Entranced
by Aria's Locket
Summary: —AU—To think that a poor homeless boy living in the streets and a rich, sheltered heiress could actually fall in love. But then again, stranger things have happened. Toph x Aang.
1. Accidental

_**Entranced**_

_Summary_:

—AU—To think that a poor homeless boy living in the streets and a rich, sheltered heiress could actually fall in love. But then again, stranger things have happened.

_Notes to Keep in Mind_:

-This is an AU story

-There is no bending whatsoever

-Toph has her eyesight

_Author's Note_:

Thank you for visiting my story. I really appreciate your interest. I've got this story totally planned out and I'll update at the very latest once every week. I would really love it if you could drop a small review when you finish reading. Not only does it let me know whether my writing is decent, but it also boosts morale.

_Disclaimer:_

Avatar: the Last Airbender is not mine. Not then, not now, and not ever.

**OOO**

**Chapter 1**

_**Accidental**_

**OOO**

There were very few instances where a street vendor had all of his defenses up all at once. Naturally, they were far too busy walking around the perimeter of their booth, coaxing unwilling patrons towards their delightful display of products, to keep an eye on everything. There was always a blind spot. Not because the street vendors were highly incompetent—although many people liked to agree that they were. It was simply, humanly impossible to keep an eye on the entirety of your stock. And that was how a blessing was bestowed upon Aang.

Hiding behind the splintering crates that lined the side of the building he was crouching in front of, Aang had expertly kept a close eye on the traveling merchant before him. The con-artist was pacing back and forth, waving around a multitude of mangos, melons, berries, and vegetables. He had baskets filled to the brim with various nuts and sugared sweets as well as containers filled with wine and water. In the corner, he kept a large wooden box that was decorated with a brass lock. That must have been where the old man kept his money. But what had easily caught the young boy's attention was what was sitting out in the open on a small table in the center of all of this mess, looking terribly lonely.

Aang quickly calculated inside his head. It had been exactly two weeks since he had last eaten an extremely decent serving of bakery bread. From the smell that was assaulting his nose he knew that the bread that was perched beautifully on the table next to the merchant was freshly baked. So, being hungry and having not eaten breakfast since he had awoken this morning, he was determined to have a nice loaf of bread to ease his hunger pains.

At that moment, a beautiful young woman had walked by the booth and had caught the attention of the dirty, old geezer. Determined to impress such a delicate and fine specimen, the old man turned his back to the young boy hiding behind him and focused his eyes on his next customer. He had quickly combed through his beard and leaned against the side of the display, casually flirting with the woman and kindly asking her "if she was interested in what he had to offer." No one could possibly be dumb enough to miss the double meaning behind the man's words.

_Damn perverted merchants_, Aang thought. _They're all the same_.

As the timid woman tried to slowly coax herself away from the man's insistent gaze, Aang took the opportunity to make a move. He thanked whatever deities that had bestowed him with such light feet as he soundlessly tip-toed towards the booth. The woman was starting to take a few steps to the left of the booth in an attempt to get away from the old man, but lonely merchants were persistent people. They'd be damned if they would let such a beautiful girl pass them by. So the vendor promptly walked behind the counter to keep up with the girl. Aang rolled his eyes as he quietly stepped over the ledge and behind the booth.

There, sitting upon a red tablecloth, was the sweet-smelling bread. If he had the time, Aang would've simply gorged on the bread right then and there. But he quickly reminded himself that he would have plenty of time to eat the bread afterwards. He ducked behind the table and looked up at his prize. Being as quiet as was humanly possible, he started to inch his arms upwards towards the basket of bread. He could hear the quiet refusals of the young girl in front of him as well as the disgusting chuckle from the old man. Aang's fingers brushed against the woven basket as he felt around for the handles of the basket. He grasped the handles with firm hands and slowly started to lift the basket off of the table.

_Ha, ha_, Aang chuckled inwardly. _Dumb fool didn't even see a thing!_

However, unbeknownst to Aang, the young woman happened to cast her glance away from the creepy, greasy man in front of her and placed her eyes on the small table in the back of the booth. It was a normal sight to see. A basket of bread on a table. There was nothing particularly breath-taking about that, was there? She was better off worrying about the man in front of her who seemed to be undressing her with his eyes, wasn't she? She should've promptly walked away, shouldn't she have?

Of course she would've _liked_ to do all of those things. But what she saw instead caused her to scream out for the whole surrounding area to hear.

"L-L-Look! That basket! I-It's _floating_! Behind you sir! The _basket!_"

Aang's eyes widened as he heard the woman scream out. The vendor had turned around, comically thinking that the girl was just looking for a way to escape. He turned around to humor her in her attempt to flee, but instead saw exactly what the girl had said she saw: a basket floating in midair.

"Hey!" the old man yelled, sauntering over to the bread in attempt to grab it back. The old man knew better. Baskets didn't float. Any self respecting person knew that. There were no such things as ghosts. So that couldn't be the cause of it either. So that meant there was only one other option…

The man lunged forward to snatch the basket away, but instead wound up snatching air. He looked up to see a young teenage boy, holding his property in his arms, quickly jumping over the booth and running to the left. Enraged, the old man hobbled his way over the ledge and started running through the crowded city streets in an attempt to catch the boy who stole from his store.

Aang cursed under his breath as he weaved through the people that were littering the roads. If there was one thing about the city of Gaoling that Aang could assure, it was that it had _far_ too many people. There was a certain formula that came with an over-crowded city. The most obvious portion of it was that newcomers rarely had any place they could stay. There was no room in the inns, all of the houses were bought, and there was not enough land for a handyman and his family to build a new one. So what were they forced to do? Live on the streets.

This often led to a lot of sick people littering street corners, begging for food, money, clothes…really anything that a passerby could spare. As Aang leaped through the sea of people, he managed to get a glimpse of a few children standing on the street corner with tin cans in their hands, asking for a small copper coin. But passersby's weren't very kind and generous. And the people begging for a break rarely got anything. So, when begging didn't work, desperate times called for desperate measures. If no one would give you food and you had no money to buy it, there was really only one thing you could do to survive.

Steal.

And in Gaoling, there was _a lot _of stealing.

Aang prided himself in his ability to slink away without being noticed. He wasn't heavy-footed like most seventeen year-old boys would be. In fact, his late father often said that he would make an adept male dancer. Aang never found that to be funny. What also helped in his rather impressive escape tactics was his knowledge of the layout of the city. After living in the alleys of Gaoling since he was a little boy, he knew exactly what dingy streets led to where and exactly which abandoned buildings were run down enough to get his pursuers lost. All in all, he considered himself an elitist in the art of deception and escape.

Granted most thought that this was a rather shady résumé, but as long as he didn't starve, Aang really didn't care.

He had to admit though; this old man was pretty fast for his age. Aang had already ran out of the busiest part of the market and began running towards the houses where people were dangling out of their windows, hanging wet clothes out on clotheslines, dumping out dirty bath water, and simply enjoying the scenery. Aang slipped by a group of women who were carrying loads of laundry and smirked as he heard the curses they yelled back at him. He heard the old man barge through the same group of women and again heard the colorful vocabulary slipping from their supposedly cultured and sophisticated lips.

Aang turned a corner and started running in between two houses through a very narrow pathway. Aang knew exactly where he was going. If he was going to lose the man behind him and get away with his breakfast, he had to try something quick and effective.

The old man was huffing and puffing as he tried to keep up with the young, homeless boy. He kept screaming strings of curses, warnings, and threats saying that he would chop the boy's hand off for even _thinking_ that he would be able to get away from him. He may have been old, but the man had been in the business for years. Running after thieves was a very tedious but highly necessary requirement for a merchant. A traveling merchant at that. Everyone wanted some valuable pastry or wine from a foreign land. He had gotten the recipe for that particular loaf of bread from a close friend. And it wasn't cheap either. He wasn't about to let some stupid boy get away with it.

He saw the lanky teenager run down a thin alleyway. The man tried to shove his not-so-skinny body through the very narrow space that the boy had easily slipped through. As the old man began to make his way to the end of the alleyway, he saw the boy stop at a stone wall. The merchant smirked.

_Nowhere for the poor rat to go_, the man snickered to himself.

The man carefully made his way towards Aang as said young boy eyed the old man carefully.

"Come on now, you little brat," the old man shouted out with a self-satisfied smile on his face. The bastard thought that he had already won. "Just give me back the bread before I do something I'm going to regret."

Aang laughed out loud and shook his head. The merchant raised an eyebrow and stared at the youth in confusion. "What the hell are you laughing about?" He tilted his head to the side. "Are you retarded or something?"

Aang smirked as he backed up against the stone wall. He tucked the basket under one arm and held the other hand in a defensive manner. "Look I don't want to cause any trouble. I just wanted something to eat. Is that so bad?" he asked innocently. Maybe _too_ innocently. It did sound like he was mocking the man a little bit.

"It is bad," the man spat out. "When you don't pay for something I broke my bones trying to get, it becomes a _major_ problem. Either you pay for that loaf of bread or I'll dangle you off of the roof until the money falls out of your pockets!"

Aang quickly stared behind him. All he had to do was time his movements correctly and he would be able to get away. He looked at the man walk closer and closer to him, starting to trap Aang in the alleyway. The man had an enraged look in his eyes as he got closer to grabbing the food from Aang's hands. He was halfway through the alleyway at this point. Just a little closer…

The merchant had enough of the hesitation and started a full-on charge towards Aang. Aang smirked as he bent his knees a little bit. Once the man was at least eight feet away from Aang, the boy quickly jumped on top of a pile of boxes filled with rotten vegetables and jumped towards one of the walls of the alley. He pushed off of the wall with his foot and propelled himself further up to the opposite wall. Again, he pushed his foot out and lifted himself further up the alley walls until he was able to land on top of the stone wall that had originally been behind him. The merchant had watched the boy half in awe and half in utter anger. He ran towards the wall and began clawing his nails into the hard stone. He tried to hoist himself up the wall to go and regain what was his from the shop, but his age and his weight prevented him from going any higher than two feet up the wall. Aang laughed out loud at the old man's useless and pathetic attempts to try and capture his newly found bane-of-existence. Getting bored with the man's struggling, Aang hopped down the wall on the other side, leaving the merchant to curse, struggle, complain, punch, kick, scream, and a whole barrage of other useless actions.

Needless to say, Aang had won once again.

He carefully landed on the ground quietly as he cradled his breakfast in his arms. As far as he could tell from looking around, there were no other vagabonds that could possibly threaten him for some food. Getting sustenance was only half of the job. The other half included watching your back for any other homeless and hungry people that might try and steal what you just risked your life to get. With great caution, Aang continued down the alley that had continued in front of him until he exited toward another street. To the right was the market place. He decided it would be best to wait awhile before going back there. He didn't want to have to run into the merchant again. Too many problems would arise, plus Aang just wasn't in the mood to deal with his stupidity. So, trying his best to seem inconspicuous with a basket of sweet smelling bread in his arms, he turned left on the street.

Once you entered the city, the first thing you were able to walk through was the streets that contained the houses of the incredibly wealthy. Aang liked to think that most of them were stuck up, brown-nosed, people. Whenever they happened through the city, they would promptly ignore anyone and everyone that had less money than they did. It was a matter of status. People of high nobility would never be caught dead conversing with commoners. It was considered uncultured, degrading, and just plain wrong. Aang almost never made his way over to that part of Gaoling. He would never be allowed near the expensive estates anyway. And even if he was, he had no desire to walk alongside such selfish people.

After you got passed the rich part of the city, there was the market place. It was the epicenter of thievery, deception, scamming, purchasing, and finagling. Humorous and interesting things happened there every day. Aang laughed at the memory of a clothing merchant getting mugged by five twelve-year-old boys who were eyeing the neatly sewed pants that the man had on display. What made the event so memorable was that all five of the boys had sacks filled with tiny stones that were being thrown at the old man. Two of the boys were in charge of biting the old man to distract him so that the other three could grab as many slacks as they could.

After that were the regular houses filled with decent people who were neither dirt poor nor filthy rich. The nobles called them common folk. Aang thought they were just human beings, which was more than he could say for half of the other residents of Gaoling. He walked through that part of town now, still seeing the same hanging clothes and bustling people he saw when he was running through the streets not a few minutes ago. A few abandoned buildings littered the roads here and there as well as a few storage houses that served as shelter for many homeless individuals. Aang walked further past the barrage of people and buildings as he spotted his destination.

Ahead of him was a crumbling, wooden house that probably belonged to a family of about five from before. It had two floors, no furniture, no residents, and no appeal to the common passerby. But to Aang, this was the place that he had called home.

He walked around to the back of the decrepit building, still looking around for the old merchant and other desperate people that might have wanted his food. He located the door in the back of the house that had a brass doorknob and was hanging off of the hinges. He carefully pushed the door open and let it bang the inside wall at an angle. As soon as he was safely inside, he placed the door back into its original place. He strode across the first floor as he passed boxes filled with books, scrolls, blankets, and extra clothes—all of which he stole. Even though he was without a decent place to live, he was educated. His father had made sure of that. He loved reading, writing, and learning. He acknowledged the fact that embracing literature was difficult seeing his situation, but he made the best of it however he could. He held the bread in one arm and sifted through one of the boxes filled with dusty, old books. His finger traced the spine of one particularly thick volume and he picked it up in his hands. He flipped the book over in his hands and quickly glanced at the cover. He nodded in approval and tucked the book neatly under his other arm.

The wooden stairs that gradually led up to the second floor were splintered, old, and worn, and they creaked with every step that he took. Step by step he ascended into the low ceiling floor that served as a bedroom-of-sorts for Aang. There wasn't much that was particularly interesting about it. There was a large, comfortable looking pile of blankets against the furthest wall. The pile of blankets was directly underneath a large window which was covered by a make-shift curtain. Since it was the summer time, the blankets were thin and the window served as a way to let in a nice breeze throughout the night. There was a table to the left of the room with a stool for Aang to eat his meals. On the right, there were even more boxes of books and scrolls along with a few empty baskets that had previously held food.

Aang placed his basket of bread on the wooden table to his left and placed the book he picked from downstairs on the ledge of the window. Sitting down on his knees on top of his "bed", he carefully pushed aside the tattered curtain that kept the window covered and peered outside.

Aang's bedroom window had the most beautiful view.

The sun was high up in the sky and cast down a glowing, golden hue upon the rooftops of Gaoling. The market place was visible from his window and he saw all of the jewelry that one man was selling glitter and shine when it caught the light. Aang smirked when he saw a young girl ogling the shimmering jewelry. From where Aang was sitting, it didn't even look all that expensive. But, the morning sun always had a way of making even the most old and worn out things beautiful.

He felt that applied even more to the city as a whole. When people had complimented Gaoling, they always referred to the rich part of the city where all of the nobles lived. No one much cared for how the slums looked and whether or not they were even mentioned in a conversation. But in Aang's opinion, the entire city right now looked dazzling. It was amazing how even all of the abandoned buildings that lay out in an unarranged pattern before him had a sort of hidden charm to them when the sun was shining down on them like it was right now.

Aang sighed as he got up and walked back to sit down at the table, leaving the curtain open. He ripped off a small piece of the bread and started eating it morsel by morsel. As he let his taste buds dance in delight and his stomach growl in anticipation for the food that was long overdue, Aang kept his gaze on the scenery before him. It was times like these where he almost didn't mind that he had nowhere to live. Sure, he missed his father dearly. If there was a way for Aang to bring him back, or maybe even just get to have one last conversation with him, Aang wouldn't hesitate. But his father always taught him to embrace what you have, no matter how meager it might have been. Aang always followed his father's advice. He savored the life that he had and made the best of it however he could. And he was happy.

But, that didn't mean that there wasn't something that seemed to be vacant in his life. At least when he was a boy in the streets, he had his father there to lead him through each day, to tell him that all of his troubles would be worth it in the end, and simply to keep his spirits up when waves of loneliness and sadness overcame him. He smiled at the memory of his father's warm smile, his wrinkled yet kind facial features, and his hearty laugh. Aang sighed. He wasn't about to get nostalgic. It had taken him years to get over his father's death and he didn't want to experience the painful aches in his chest he used to get whenever he thought of his father. He was over that chapter in his life, no matter how much he missed and loved the only person he had in his life.

But now he had no one beside him, no one to say hello to him in the morning, and no one to comfort him when the pressures of staying alive became too much for him to bear. Going through that by yourself for so long took a toll on your spirit. Aang always appeared spirited and energetic around the rest of the homeless children he knew. But there was no denying the dismal sense of anxiety that pulsed through his being on a daily basis.

What he wouldn't give to have someone take that away from him.

Suddenly, for the first time in a very long time, Aang had lost his appetite. He turned the remainder of the bread in his hands as he stared blankly at the floor in front of him. He didn't mean to become depressed over something that he never used to think so much about. It bothered him that he would even think of dwelling over such troublesome thoughts. He had no need to look down at his life so much. He found it highly selfish to be complaining when he should be grateful that he even had a meal on his table at the moment. Even with this running through his mind, he couldn't find the urge to finish the bread. He placed the left over bread in the basket and covered it with the red cloth so as to keep it fresh for as long as possible. He rubbed his face and sighed in exhaustion.

It wasn't even noon and he was already tired.

Who knew that he would have to run across the entirety of the city just to get a bite to eat?

Aang flung himself backwards until he landed in the pile of quilts he placed by the window. He realized that he would soon have to move the quilts towards the middle of the room and make sure that the window stayed closed at all times since the cold weather would be coming soon. He looked around the room and surveyed the boxes that he kept around. He was pretty sure that he still had a few long sleeve tunics and some warm cloaks that he could get away with wearing. But they were all probably worn out and filled with holes. He would have to see what he could do about getting more tomorrow. He had enough dealing with merchants and store owners today. That bread would last him for the next two days. There was plenty of it, or at least he felt that it was plenty. He had long gotten used to his inevitably small portions of food over the years.

As soon as he comfortable became accustomed to the cushioned expanse of worn out fabric that kept him warm at night, he heard a loud commotion coming from the streets below him. Aang hoisted himself up and placed his chin on the windowsill, looking out into the maze of streets and alleyways that made up Gaoling. He searched through the bleak streets and skipped over all of the haggard, worn down people that were littering the streets in front of him. He was pretty sure that he heard a crowd of people just now. It was very faint, but his surrounding 'neighborhood' was pretty quiet. No one came around here much so he was able to easily hear anything strange outside. It made watching his back for any shady characters a lot easier.

In the distance, he was able to see the edge of the market place. Sure enough, there was a large wave of people, talking excitedly and fanning themselves from the view that they were looking at. Aang couldn't very well see much because of all of the people blocking his way, but whatever it was, it certainly had people excited. Streamers were flying into the sky, people were waving and shouting, small coins were being thrown in the middle of the crowd, and children were quickly pushing through the massive adult bodies so that they may get a better view of the commotion.

_Probably just some noble walking through town_, he thought to himself.

Although he really had no desire to go see some spoiled nobles walking through the streets as if they were the ones that owned them, he figured he might as well have a little bit of excitement before he turned in for the day. Besides, it looked as if a hell of a lot of people were throwing in coins towards the noble procession. If he was fast enough and sneaky enough, he could probably swipe a few coins and trade them in for some winter clothing. He could've probably gotten away with swiping some long sleeved articles without buying them, but he figured that since it was getting cold rather quickly, a lot of other people would be thinking of trying the same thing. That would mean the shop clerks would increase security.

"Looks like I'm going to have to find some money," he said out loud to himself.

So without any further hesitation, Aang quickly ran out of the room, down the crumbling staircase, through his crooked door, and into the dusty streets of the slums. He was a quick runner, so getting to the procession in time would be no problem. Besides, there were a lot of coins that were being thrown that the servants probably would miss. He'd have plenty of time to pick up four or five. That should give him about two shirts, which was more than enough for the winter.

He saw that the procession was heading east, so he turned right and started running down the streets, hoping to cut off the large crowd and get a front row seat. That way swiping some money would prove to be a lot easier. He ran through alleys, pathways, streets, roads, and buildings. He intently kept his eyes on the streamers that were still being thrown in the air, making sure that he was running in the right direction. As he got closer, the shouts that were ringing in his ears started to form into coherent words.

"Lady Bei Fong, over here!"

"Master Bei Fong, a pleasure to see you!"

"Blessings upon the Bei Fong's!"

"May you prosper always!"

Aang rolled his eyes. It was as if they were talking to kings. It wasn't as if they had to actually like these people. He sure as hell didn't. But then again, look at him. A street rat with nothing more than the clothes on his back. Maybe he shouldn't have been talking. But, he was almost positive that he had a brilliant point. All of these townspeople didn't owe these nobles a cent, yet here they were throwing coins in the street for them.

He didn't understand what they saw in nobles. But then again, maybe he never would.

He finally turned a final corner and saw the backs of a multitude of people. He quickly made his way to the edge of the crowd and place himself on the edge of the road, trying not to get pushed by the multitude of people that were pressing against him next to him, trying to get a better view as well. It wasn't everyday that you saw a noble running through these parts of Gaoling. They usually kept to themselves in their stuffy, rich houses. They usually didn't care to show their faces around common folk, though it was sometimes necessary when they came back from trips outside the city.

Aang looked to his left and saw three palanquins being led down the road. Aang scoffed. Leave it to them to show up here in style. Of course, with rich people there really was no other way.

_I swear. Rich people make me want to bash my brains in_, he thought bitterly.

In the distance, he saw two palanquins walking side by side and then a smaller one following close behind. He had heard of the Bei Fong's once or twice. Apparently, Master Bei Fong had a beautiful wife and one daughter, just about the same age as him. He had no interest in this last piece of information. She was probably some stuck up bitch that didn't care about anything but the new gown that was being tailored for her today. The last thing he wanted to do was put his forehead to the ground for such people. But he bit his tongue. He badly wanted to curse them out and see what they would do. But he needed money.

The palanquins were opened so that the citizens could see their faces. Sitting cross-legged in the two palanquins that were in front were none other than Master Bei Fong and his wife, Lady Bei Fong. They were both decent looking people and couldn't be older than their early thirties. That was another thing. All of these nobles were so young. It's as if they get married at the age of twelve and pop out kids the minute they get into their hotel rooms.

Alright, it was a bit of an exaggeration, but he was trying to make a point.

Aang really didn't pay much attention to the features of the man and wife that were traveling through the streets. Not only did he not care, but he was too busty discreetly stuffing in gold and silver coins into the pockets of his worn pants. Nobody seemed to notice either because they were too busy worshipping the bastards that were walking by in their stupid little palanquins or they were acting like him and were trying to swipe as much money as they could. The two nobles walked by him without noticing his little thievery, leaving Aang completely satisfied and his pockets full.

Aang smirked. Sure his pockets weren't all that large, but with the coins he did have, he'd be able to actually _buy_ food and clothes for at least four more days. And with the bread that he still had at home, he'd be set for a while.

This would be a good week.

Aang was about to push his way back out of the crowd and back to his house to turn in for the evening, but he forgot about the last, smaller palanquin coming through the crowd again. Curiosity got the better of him as he turned back around and waited for the palanquin to pass by. He'd only get a quick little look at whoever was inside. After all, he'd only even heard about the Bei Fong's through gossip. He wasn't quite sure what it was that they did that made them so rich and he didn't know what they looked like until now. Might as well get a look at their precious little daughter.

Aang poked his head out of the crowd and into the street so that he could gaze straight into the palanquin. Squinting and looking past the silk covers that were covering the opening, Aang was able to finally catch a glimpse of the person inside of the palanquin as it passed buy him.

He took in a sharp breath.

The girl that was inside the palanquin was sitting cross-legged, similar to that of her parents. She had her hands placed delicately in her lap as the golden bangles she was wearing jingled with each step of the bearers underneath her. He saw the embroidered, silk pants that she was wearing as well as the beautifully embroidered emerald jacket that wrapped around her shoulders. Her feet were tucked neatly underneath her legs and she sat up perfectly straight, back tall and firm. From what he could tell, she was very pale. Her alabaster skin practically shimmered whenever the sun above her managed to shine through the opening of her palanquin. But this isn't what caught the brunt of Aang's attention.

Her eyes were the brightest shade of green that he had even seen. They reminded him of what the leaves on a tree in the summer would look like: vibrant, bold, and gorgeous. Her nose was neither too pointed nor too flat and stood at a pleasing angle in the middle of her face. Right below them was a pair of soft, pink, full lips. Her eyes were downcast and her lips were pulled into a frown. But that didn't mar her features in the slightest. She had jet, black hair that was neatly pulled into a bun that was being held up by two wooden sticks that were strategically placed through her bun. A few glossy strands of hair hung in front of her face and contrasted perfectly with the white, flawless surface that was her face.

The one thing he could say about her was that she looked sad. Like she didn't want to be there, stuck in that ridiculous box with so many people doting on her. That was why she never looked up at anyone, that was why she didn't smile back at the people that were calling for her attention, and that was why she stared at her folded hands in her lap, like she was patiently waiting for this ridiculous show to be over.

He certainly wasn't expecting that.

As her palanquin passed by the people in the crowd, they slowly began to dissipate the farther and farther away she got, determined on following her and her family all the way to the gates of their house. Slowly, but surely, Aang was left standing alone in the middle of the street, colorful gifts, streamers, and other useless celebratory items piled at his feet. He continued to stare at the girl's palanquin until he could no longer see anything. It was quiet around him and nothing could be heard but his uneven and nervous breathing. He continued to stare into the distance for a few more minutes. He could only say one thing in his slight state of stupor.

"So beautiful."


	2. Chance

_**A/N:**__ Oh goodness. Thank you all for your charming reviews. You're all very sweet. By the way, someone had asked this in a review and I thought I'd mention it for everyone. I briefly mentioned it, but in case you're wondering Aang is 17 in this story. Toph is around the same age, but you'll learn specifics on that later. Alright. With that, let's press on. _

**OOO**

**Chapter 2**

**Chance**

**OOO**

Aang wasn't sure what had come over him. This certainly was an enigma: a girl that he had never even spoken to had managed to freeze him right in his tracks. And what was worse, he couldn't seem to move his feet even after he acknowledged the fact that he had been rendered motionless by said girl.

There was absolute silence around him. Everyone had disappeared after the procession of the Bei Fong's, leaving a deafening silence to surround him. Aang closed his eyes and was able to hear his heartbeat pounding in his ears. It was thrumming violently and he was sure that this was causing the blood in his body to rush faster than usual—particularly to his face.

He shook his head. No. This was _not_ possible. There was no way that he was blushing. Not at that noble girl. It logically didn't make sense.

Most of the time, nobles had this self righteous smirk on their faces. If they weren't smirking, they were kissing up to the people around them, acting as completely superficial as a human being was capable of. The young daughters of rich families were similar, except that most of them also had this spoiled and pampered aura around them. They probably got everything they ever wanted and if there was something that they couldn't get, they whined and manipulated the people around them until they got it. It was a sad existence in Aang's opinion, but he had seen it first-hand. He knew how nobles acted.

Well, at least he thought he did.

He didn't understand why that girl seemed so tortured. It was as if she was miserable sitting in their in the most expensive clothes gold could buy and sitting in a silk covered palanquin. He half expected her to be sneering at the poor people below her for not being able to afford the things she was graciously given. Aang probably would have preferred that to what he saw instead. At least that was predictable behavior. He probably would have laughed to himself, picked up the gold coins her fans were throwing on the ground, and run away to the market to stock up on supplies with his money. But that depressed look...he was not expecting that.

"Caught in a daze, Aang?"

Aang blinked and whirled around on his heel. Leaning against the wall of the building behind him was a tanned boy with messy brown hair. He looked to be about Aang's age and was probably only about an inch taller than him at most. He had on tattered, dark colored clothes that looked like they had been worn for a few days in a row. His brown eyes were filled with mirth, his arms were crossed, and his mouth was set into a smirk as he chewed slightly on a piece of grass that was caught in between his teeth. The boy laughed quietly at himself before he walked over and slapped Aang hard on the back, jolting him forward a few inches.

"You better be careful. That's how people can sneak up on you," the boy warned.

Aang scowled. "Give me a break, Jet. I'm the last person you need to worry about."

Jet closed his eyes and shrugged. "I don't know about that. You're what society calls a 'pretty boy.' The lonely, desperate, old men will go for you first," he mocked.

Aang pushed him out of the way as he started to walk down the alleyway in front of him. "Please. That desperate and lonely guy is going to be picking his teeth up from the floor before he even tried something with me," he assured. Then, he smiled. "Better yet, he might as well count on being castrated."

Jet flinched. "Ouch. I can feel that."

Aang started walking aimlessly through the labyrinth of dusty streets and dirty alleys while Jet was following close behind him, still chewing thoughtfully on the piece of grass in his mouth.

"So, what was that back there?" Jet asked conversationally.

Aang kept his gaze forward. "What was what?"

Jet let out a laugh. "Oh, come on! You know what. You were freakin' day dreaming back there. That's not like you."

Aang clenched his teeth. "It was nothing."

Jet shook his head as he strode up next to Aang so that they were walking in step with each other. "I don't consider myself an expert, but I think that was the look of a poor sap that got screwed over by Cupid," Jet smirked.

"What are you talking about?"

"Met a lady friend, did you? Does she have another lady friend?" Jet asked, nudging Aang suggestively.

Aang rolled his eyes as he pushed Jet's arm away. "Your skills of deduction are obviously screwing up. Nothing like that even happened."

"Don't lie to me, you little punk," Jet frowned. "You totally saw a girl. I know that look anywhere, man. Don't try and tell me I don't know what I'm talking about."

Aang grinned and finally turned his head towards Jet. "Getting a bit lonely there, buddy?"

Jet scowled and allowed an angry frown to contort his face. "Please. I don't need you to get a girl."

"Pff. You're hoping that every girl I run into has a friend, sister, or cousin that's either hot or can give you a good night," Aang pointed out. "Why don't you try to find them on your own?"

"Oh yeah, Hot Shot?" Jet snarled. "You try and pick up a girl when all you've got in your pocket are two bronze pieces and the crumbs from your last meal. It's not as easy as it looks."

"Alright, calm down. I get it."

Aang sometimes forgot why in the world he remained friends with Jet in the first place. They had met each other when they were both ten. Aang was wandering around when he walked through the stands in the market place and saw a dark haired boy getting grabbed by a much bigger man. He was holding a bag of nuts and dried fruits, but most of them were falling to the floor since the bigger man—who probably owned the stand the boy stole from—was shaking him so hard. Aang wasn't sure what had possessed him to do anything, but the next thing he remembered doing was running behind the man, kicking him in his rear end, pushing him from behind, and watching as he tumbled face first into the dirt. The dark haired boy had shaken himself from the man's grasp and crawled out from underneath the man who had fallen on the ground. Aang had grabbed the boy's arm and they ran as far away from the merchant as possible.

The boy later introduced himself as Jet and Aang had offered an introduction of his own. He found out later that Jet's parents had died in a house fire when he was eight years old. So, similar to Aang, he had no parents and was left to fend for himself in the dangerous slums of Gaoling. They had both shared what was left of the nuts and the dried fruit and had become friends after that. After all, there are some experiences where you can't help but make friends. Narrowly escaping an enraged merchant as a team just happened to be one of them.

Jet often focused less on physical survival and more on his sexual preservation. Aang remembered practically all of the girls that Jet had ever seduced into his intense gaze. It wasn't as if he cared enough to keep track. He just found it amusing to remind Jet of the bucktoothed girl that had followed Jet wherever he went and was showing behavior that border lined a stalker. Or maybe even the short red head that came up with exactly forty two pet names to call him by. Jet was constantly hanging out in bars, prowling the streets, and hanging out in the market place in order to meet up with an attractive looking girl that would perhaps cheer him up for the night. He never found them so that he could have a steady relationship. He just needed company for a few nights. Aang was never one for that kind of stuff. He found it better to look for food during the day, and then read and stargaze during the night. Jet never understood this.

"This is when males are in their prime, Aang," Jet promised. "This is the age where we take the city by storm. We should be attracting those lonely, love-deprived girls that could use a little body heat during those lonely nights, if you know what I mean. Just because we're dirt poor doesn't mean we have to deprive ourselves."

Of course, this only worked out so well. Lately, Jet had been having a bad week. He hadn't met a single girl that he felt was worth it. And even if they were, they were either taken or completely shot him down because of his poverty. It had probably been weeks since Jet had had any company in his little make shift home, and Aang was sure that the effects of being partnerless for so long were starting to get on his nerves. He actually became desperate enough to ask Aang if he had hooked up anywhere so he could search for their sister/friend/cousin, hoping to get lucky. But obviously, to no avail.

"Why don't you try picking up a hobby?" Aang offered with his boyish smile. "Might take your mind off of your relationship issues." Aang snapped his fingers. "I got it. Take up bird watching. I hear it's very therapeutic," he laughed.

"Haha," Jet muttered. "I am on the floor laughing my ass off."

They had walked past a bunch of small children playing with a slightly deflated ball when Jet had turned a questioning gaze towards Aang.

"Where's your staff?" Jet asked, changing the subject.

Aang shrugged. "I dunno. Left it back at my place. Why?"

Jet rolled his eyes and shoved his hands in his pockets. "You usually carry it around with you. Ya know, to knock over people that get in your way, whack a few people on the head, and all that other good stuff that that stick is used for."

Aang shook his head and sighed. "I don't feel like carrying it around anymore. It's easier to just swipe something and make a run for it," he reasoned.

Jet clicked his tongue against his teeth. "You need to defend yourself, man. I mean, look at me." He reached back and grabbed at the bronze handles that were sticking out from his back. He yanked them out of the sheath that they were cradled in and revealed his very own set of Hook Swords. "I have everything I need to defend myself."

Aang rolled his eyes. "I can't believe you stole those things."

"Hey, at least they come in handy," Jet said.

"Whatever," Aang sighed. "I don't believe in killing. And those things are killing machines. At least the most my staff can do is knock a person out." Jet didn't bother to respond.

Jet ran quickly in front of Aang so that he was facing him, walking backwards while doing so. "So seriously. What was that just now? What did you see that had you shell shocked for so long?"

Aang kept his head down and said nothing.

Jet chewed on the inside of his cheek as he looked up to the sky and thought for a few seconds. His eyes showed immediate recognition and he immediately started smirking at his childhood friend. "Wait a minute. The Bei Fong family was supposed to come home today. And I could've sworn that I heard a bunch of commotion before I showed up…" he smiled.

Aang peeked up embarrassingly and was met with Jet's calculating gaze. They had both stopped walking in the middle of the street as Jet was leaning forward on his feet, his face two inches away from Aang's. Aang leaned back to try and distance himself from Jet, but Jet was careful to keep his face within two inches of Aang's, successfully freaking Aang out and making him crack.

"I saw their daughter okay!" he shouted, drawing the attention of some of the passerby's that were within earshot.

Jet seemed unfazed for a few seconds. But the look on Jet's face after that was nothing short of pure amusement. "You're kidding right?" he laughed. Aang stood silent. "Oh my god," Jet laughed hysterically. "The kid is serious!"

Jet's obnoxious laughter started filling the streets as he clutched his stomach, trying to comprehend the hilarity of it all. He had bent over and started coughing as his throat started getting dry. But once he swallowed, he started right up again. Even more people were starting at the pair, some even stopping in their tracks to see if the tan boy was alright. Aang looked around embarrassed. People were staring and Jet wasn't letting up. His embarrassment then turned into annoyance as he grabbed a hold of Jet's shoulder. "I'm glad you think this is so damn funny," Aang glared, watching Jet collide with the nearest wall to try and quell his shakes of laughter. "Jerk," Aang muttered.

Jet was wiping tears away from his eyes at this point before he had found his voice. "I can't believe the Bei Fong's daughter had you frozen in your tracks like a damn little kid. Get _real_, Aang. How much more out of your league can you get?"

Aang turned away from his friend and continued to walk away. "It's not like I went and courted her. I saw her go by and thought she was pretty. That's it," he insisted.

Jet chuckled lightly. "Sure, you did. Don't wrap yourself in girls like her, alright? You're just going to wind up getting burned in the end. I promise you."

Aang shook his head. "I don't know how to explain it, Jet. She just looked…different." He combed his fingers through his hair. "Not like those other noble girls, you know."

Jet lifted his brow into a perfect arch. "No, I don't know. Look, nobles are very easy to figure out: they're stuck up people that have no use for street crawlers like us. Stay away from people like that, Aang. Sure, they might humor you in the beginning. But they'll humor you like someone might humor a stray dog. They'll pet you for a while and think you're cute. But then they'll walk away and not bother to help you at all. Best to just steer clear. Don't act like an idiot, Aang."

Aang sighed. He was right. But he was absolutely positive that the girl that he saw was far different than what Jet was making her out to be. It was bothering him to no end and he didn't understand why. He had only seen her for two seconds! That was hardly long to allow a person to make an influence on you. So why was he obsessing over her like he was now?

The chances of seeing her again were dangerously low. It was very rare for the Bei Fong's in particular to leave Gaoling. They almost always stayed in the city and very rarely went away for holidays. Seeing her process through town like that would be a rare occurrence. And there would be no way that he would see her in the market, in the bars, or in the slums. That basically narrowed their chances of meeting to about zero. There was no use in mulling over a girl like that when there was a definite fact he wasn't going to see her again.

"I got it, okay?"

"Good," Jet grinned. "Now, why don't we go and do something fun? Care to help me find a—?"

"No."

"But you didn't even let me—"

"I don't need to," Aang said as a matter of factly. "I'm not prowling the streets so that I can find you a one night stand. I have more pride than that."

Jet looked crestfallen. But he quickly fixed himself and set a scowl on his face. "Fine. I'll go have fun by myself." Jet turned abruptly and walked in the opposite direction as Aang. He turned again and called out back towards Aang. "You go in your little house and read. I don't care!"

"I never asked if you did," Aang shouted back, a light laughing mixing in with his words.

Jet rolled his eyes in anger and walked away. "You're going to die a virgin, Aang," he called over his shoulder.

Aang stalked off, too tired of Jet to even bother responding to his insult. Jet was always like that anyway. He had a funny way of showing his friendship towards Aang, but it was meant well. After all, push comes to shove, he was a good pal to have around. Though his escapades around town were a little exhausting and his humor was as raunchy as it came, the good evened out the bad he supposed.

Aang forgot where he was going all of a sudden. He looked up into the sky and saw that the sky was beginning to turn a soft orange and pink. Sunset had already comer upon the city and he had barely noticed. He shrugged. He supposed it wasn't a complete waste of time. He managed to pick up some money in the streets—enough that his pocket was jingling slightly. (Of course, because of this he had to walk a bit slowly—it wasn't good to have your pocket jingling around this part of town where all of the riff raffs liked to hang out. Even now, a few were eyeing him from the shadows while he walked through).

He also had managed to get a few day's worth of food back at home so that he wouldn't starve. He might have some time that he could use for himself this week. There was a new adventure novel in the book stand that he had been craving. He might have the time and the money for once to obtain it and read to his heart's content. He tended to ignore Jet's comments about his reading. It was a past time that he enjoyed and that was all that mattered to him. And to top of a perfect day, he had gotten he chance to see that beaut—.

Aang halted in his tracks. "Am I serious?"

Was he really still thinking about this girl right now? This crazy, out-of-his-league, unavailable, _noble_ girl?

What made him think that she would even like him anyway?

Aang shook his head and pinched the bridge of his nose. "I need to relax," he sighed.

No. He needed to wind down, to be accurate.

Maybe he would actually follow Jet's advice and head down to the bar for a little bit.

_For something to drink_, he insisted. _Not for a girl. _

**OOO**

Aang decided that he had better stay away from Jet's usual pit stop. It would just be really awkward and Jet would easily get the wrong idea. So instead of turning around to go and embarrass himself thoroughly, he decided to keep in the direction he was going, hoping to hit something similar to a bar or pub…heck, a tea shop would have been sufficient. He just needed a proper distraction. Between Jet and the Bei Fong girl…well, he'd had just about enough.

He wouldn't get drunk. He couldn't afford the hangover in the morning. He'd have to go out for some water tomorrow and it would do him well to be alert. It was normally an easy task and not something that he tended to rack his brain worrying about, but a slight headache could break and shatter any chances he had at swiping everything he needed. He would risk getting caught. And that was absolutely unacceptable.

He dodged through the large crowd of people that were littering the streets in from of him. He saw girls giggling and laughing as they headed inside the dance halls on the corner. Old men were filing into the bars and a few of the children were remaining outside, running through the paths that led to the park that was not too far away from the buildings. Aang quickly darted his eyes around all of the signs on the buildings on this particular street, wondering where he'd be spending the rest of his evening.

He saw a few men with knives in their pockets enter a shabby looking building that must have been a bar and quickly bypassed it, not wanting to get into any trouble. He also passed by a tea shop that was filled with a family and their six children who seemed to all be under the age of eight. He didn't need the shrill screams of small children grating on his eardrums. Not at this hour.

Aang kept skipping over every bar he came across. They were either too loud, too crowded, too shabby, or too rowdy. Most of them had reputations for violent fights and brawls, so Aang didn't even bother to consider them. Some of them even had merchants inside that looked frighteningly familiar to Aang. One of them happened to be the merchant he had stolen the bread from this morning. That was also easily bypassed for fear that he might get ganged up by the many men who were still waiting to be paid for their goods. Even the tea shops were filled with loud families, exuberant gentleman who didn't know how to keep their voices down, and a lot of other disturbances that would eventually make it difficult to wind down.

Aang was about to give up until he reached the end of the long street. He stopped in front of the building that was closest to the park. He lifted a brow and nodded. This would probably do.

He stepped into the doorway of a small and quiet looking tea shop. He supposed this was better than going inside a bar after all. He had been in plenty with Jet. You happened to get drunk out of your mind whether or not you intended for it or not. A tea shop was safer, and he definitely liked this place.

It wasn't very large, but it was furnished beautifully. The oak floors were polished so that his thin shoes slipped against its smooth surface. The tables were pushed up against the walls with long seats in front of them to make for simple looking booths that dotted the walls of the shop. Each bench was covered with soft, green cushions that were covered in soft material that had golden embroideries on the backs. The two person tables in the middle were covered in green tablecloths that had the same golden embroideries all over the front.

There were a few people inside—maybe about seven or eight—but there was a quiet hum around the shop and the owner had decided to keep it dimly lit so as to calm the atmosphere. The quiet clanging of tea cups could be heard as well as the silent orders coming from the kitchen in the back. Aang shuffled over to one of the booths at the end of the shop. He settled himself into the soft cushions of the seat and leaned his head back against the back the bench. He started breathing and drifting off slightly before he felt a tap on his shoulder.

He looked up to see an old man with kind looking eyes wearing a dark green apron and holding a notepad with a pencil. "Would you like anything to drink, sir?" he asked quietly.

Aang nodded and drummed his finger against the table. "Do you have any jasmine tea?"

The old man nodded and jotted something quickly onto his notepad. "Coming right up," he smiled.

Aang leaned his elbows against the table and quietly looked around the shop while he waited for his tea. There was a couple a few feet away from him that looked to be about his age. They both looked like they went to the university since they were still wearing their robes. Their heads were leaned in close and the boy's glasses were sliding slightly off his nose. The girl had giggled and pushed his glasses back up lightly as they continued talking quietly within the four inches of space they gave themselves.

Aang smiled at the scene before he turned his head towards three men that were also having a conversation in the corner booth farthest away from where he was sitting. In the booth right in front of them were two old woman who were sharing their knitting works as they spread them out on the table, occasionally taking sips from their tea cups as they talked each other through exactly what they were planning on making once they had managed to obtain the right color wool. Aang leaned his elbow on his hand, while he looked at the table across from his and drummed his fingers against the table.

A light ringing sound entered his ears followed by the sound of the front door being closed shut. The scuffling of footsteps along the floors followed as someone started walking down the thin aisles of the tea shop towards the front desk. They must have been in something of a hurry since the footsteps resembled more of a brisk walk rather than someone simply strolling into a quaint little tea shop. Plus, they happened to bump into Aang's table by accident, muttering a quick apology before they bounded for the front of the shop again.

Aang tilted his head a little bit to get a glimpse of the stranger. A cloaked figure was quickly walking towards the front desk of the tea shop, keeping their head down and their hands clutching the front of the hood so as to keep their face covered. He assumed that this person was female seeing as how she was pretty short (probably a whole head shorter than him) and looked rather thin under that heavy black cloak. That, and the person's voice sounded female despite the fact that all they did was mutter a quick and jumbled apology.

She was currently ringing the small bell that was placed on the counter insistently and was occasionally looking on either side of her as if she was afraid someone was watching her. The hand that wasn't continuously ringing the service bell was drumming against the table nervously. She looked terribly on edge—almost as if she was a guilty criminal running away from the law and fully aware of everything around her.

The same old man who had taken his order had quickly come to the front of the desk and widened his eyes when he was met with the sight of the girl under the cloak. She had lowered it just enough so that the man in front of her would probably be able to see her entire face, but was sure to keep it low enough that no one would be able to see past the thick material. A look of confusion crossed the man's features before she showed a sign of recognition and leaned his head closer to meet the girl's. They whispered quickly to each other, each being careful to keep their voices as low as possible. The man then walked into the back of the store and left the girl waiting, her fingers drumming on the table and her head darting back and forth again.

Aang raised a brow when he saw the old man come back out with a large package wrapped in a thick, green velvet cloth. It was a square package that was about two hands high which was being held together with a leather strap adorned with a silver buckle. The girl bowed her head slightly and whispered something—probably a thank you—to the old man while he smiled and tightened the straps for her. Grabbing the package and clutching it firmly to her chest, she turned towards the door with her head down, hurrying through the shop again.

As the girl was speed-walking towards the door, a young teenage employee a little bit younger than him was holding a tray with a few orders of tea and was walking down the same aisle. Seeing as how the girl had her eyes glued to the floor and the boy was too busy making sure that the tea cups in his hands wouldn't fall, their collision was not that much of a surprise.

The tea cups came crashing to the ground as well as the girl's package. The shattered porcelain skittered across the floor and the server boy immediately stooped down to pick up the pieces. Meanwhile, the contents of the girl's package fell to the floor with a resounding _thunk_ and the contents were strewn all over the floor.

Seeing as how the girl was closer to where he was sitting, Aang quickly got up and stooped to the floor next to the girl who was also low on the ground, attempting to pick up the fallen items.

He managed to collect a few of the items and noticed quickly that they were books. Most of the titles he was familiar with as he had yellowed and slightly tattered versions of these same books at home. They were mainly adventure and romance novels with a few philosophy books placed into the mix. He carefully piled the books on top of each other, making sure not to further damage the books while the girl did the same. Aang eyed the leather strap that was holding the package together and picked it up from the floor.

"I'm sorry," he apologized. "I think the buckle to the strap is broken. If you want I can fix it for you—"

"Don't worry about," the girl insisted, quickly cutting him off. "I'm in a rush and I have to get home soon."

Aang began to wrap the books in the green covering. "Are you sure? These are a lot of books, and I'm not sure if you can carry them back by yourself."

The girl quickly snatched the pile of books that Aang had prepared and pulled them in front of her so that she could wrap up the ones that she had collected. "Look, it's fine. I've carried heavier than this. I've got it covered."

Aang sighed. "At least let me help you carry them back." He reached behind him and found another book that had slid under one of the tables.

"Look, I don't need your help okay? I've got it handled just fine." The girl grabbed a hold of the book in Aang's hands and yanked it roughly away from his grasp.

Aang scowled. He figured that since he was nice enough to squat down on the floor and pick up all of her belongings because of her screw up—_Hasn't she ever thought of looking where she was going?—_she would've been a little bit more appreciative of his help. But now she was having an attitude just because he was being courteous.

"I was just trying to help," he frowned. "You don't need to be so negative about it."

"I didn't ask for your help," she said shortly, snatching the leather strap from him and trying her hardest to tie the books together with a broken buckle.

"A simple 'thank you' would have sufficed," he said annoyingly.

"Yeah, well I just don't have the time, alright?"

God, who the hell did she think she was?

Aang stood up on his feet. "You don't have the time or you don't have the manners?"

The girl froze. Aang could have sworn that he heard her grinding her teeth together as she stood up to her full height—which honestly wasn't much—and stared Aang straight in the eyes.

Aang blinked.

"Look, I don't need your help. I'm in a rush and I don't have the time to have someone like you slowing me down and keeping me from getting where I have to go. Whoever you are just leave me alone."

The girl picked up the hastily wrapped package of books and clutched it to her chest again. She pulled her hood down lower and exited the tea shop as quickly as she could. She turned the corner and Aang just caught sight of her running down the road before she disappeared completely.

Aang blinked again and even went so far as to rub his eyes.

He probably would have come up with a response to counter that smart-aleck attitude that girl was sporting, but the moment she looked up at him with those angry eyes, he couldn't think coherently anymore. Even though they were filled with anger and annoyance, he couldn't help but think that they looked achingly familiar. Perhaps a little bit _too_ familiar for comfort.

And they were such an odd color as well. They were a blinding shade of bright green, so bright in fact that they probably could have glowed in the dark. He doubted that he had even seen anyone with eyes that color, in fact they seemed a little unnatural. Not that they weren't pleasing to look at. It was just difficult for him to…

…wait a minute.

Bright green eyes. Where had he seen those before?

_Oh Spirits, you have got to be _kidding _me. _

There was no mistaking it.

It was her.

It was the Bei Fong girl.


	3. Repeat

**OOO**

**Chapter 3**

**Repeat**

**OOO**

"So let me get this straight," Jet whispered. "You happen to go into some random tea shop—manly choice, by the way—you're going about your business, and then out of nowhere, you happen to run into a noble?"

"Exactly. Impossible, right?"

Jet shook his head and laughed quietly. "Aang…we _need_ to get you a girlfriend."

Aang frowned. Figures this was the response he was going to get.

"Don't tell me that you think I'm lying," Aang asked incredulously. "Why in the hell would I make that up unless it was true? I swear, the Bei Fongs' daughter was in that tea shop."

Jet adjusted his seating position and turned his head towards Aang. "Look, Aang. I thought you were being funny before, but now this is bordering obsessive. There are thousands of green eyed girls in this city. It doesn't _mean_ anything!"

Aang shook his head. "Nope. Not like hers. It was her, I'm positive."

This whole back-and-forth banter had been going on all the next morning. Truly, Aang debated whether or not he should tell Jet at all. He would probably tease him, tell he was crazy, and tell him that he needed to go out and get a life. But, it was bothering Aang to no end as to why that girl had been in that tea shop in the first place.

Nobles were stuck up people. No one in Gaoling Estates would ever dream of stepping into that part of the city. Their outings were restricted to the portion of the city closest to the mansions. All of the expensive restaurants and fancy meeting halls were exclusive to them. They were lavish, expensive, luxurious…everything that those people needed to satisfy themselves. So what in the world was one of them doing in some normal tea shop where normal people were practically littering the streets?

It would bother anyone. And it was definitely bothering Aang.

"It's not that I don't believe you," Jet explained. "I just think that maybe you made a mistake. There was dim lighting, maybe you mistook her for someone else."

"Look," Aang whispered back, "I'm not that stupid. I think I know a person when I see them. Trust me. It was her!"

Jet rolled his eyes. "Alright. Let's go along with your crazy theory. Say—by some supernatural freaking miracle—you actually saw this noble chick in that tea shop. That would mean that she had gone there for something. What exactly did she go there for?"

"I told you. She picked up a bunch of books from the owner. She ran into a server boy and dropped them. I tried to help her pick them up but she rushed off." Rather rudely, he might add.

Jet groaned and let his forehead collide with his palm. "That doesn't even make sense. Nobles don't read."

Aang shoved Jet roughly and scowled. "This isn't funny. Something weird is going on. Have you ever seen nobles come over to this part of town? Honestly?"

Jet rubbed his arm where Aang had pushed him and frowned. "No, I haven't. But I can't see why it's any of our concern."

"Aren't you curious?"

"No, I'm not. If some noble girl wants to run around town in disguise, then let her. So long as she doesn't get in the way of our way of life, I don't feel the need to worry about it."

Aang let his shoulders drop. Maybe Jet wasn't curious, but Aang was. Maybe it had absolutely nothing to do with him, but Aang felt that this discovery was useful. That girl was nothing short of an enigma to Aang. The first time he sees her, she's not kissing up to the adorning crowd at her feet. Instead, she's looking down as if she is completely miserable. In fact, she didn't look up at the crowd at all. She looked annoyed, embarrassed, and was probably wishing that the entire procession was over and done with. That was something that Aang had never seen before.

Then when he runs into her again—at a tea shop in the middle of the city—she comes rushing in like someone was after her. She goes and picks up a gigantic pile of books and rushes out. Then when she falls and tries to help her up, she snaps at him, tells him that she doesn't need or has time for his help, and storms off.

He expected some soft spoken, quiet, meek girl who got nervous and embarrassed when people started doting on her. Not some loud, feisty girl with a spitfire attitude who needed to learn how to talk to a person who was just being courteous.

Honestly, he was just trying to help her pick up her books. There was no need to act all hot headed about it. After all, she completely and totally blew him off as if he was a piece of dirt. At first, he thought it was classic noble behavior. He thought that she saw him as some lowly commoner who didn't deserve to be talking to her and should've just minded her own business. But nobles tended to be a little bit more conceited and haughty about it. She was acting neither conceited nor haughty. She was just acting downright rude to whoever was trying to help her. Maybe she was in a rush. Maybe she didn't have time. But she could've said it a bit nicer.

She annoyed him last night, and he was still annoyed about it today. He didn't know what her problem was, but she was certainly _not_ the type of girl Aang thought she was. He wasn't in love with her like Jet thought. He had only seen her once. Sure she was stunningly gorgeous, but she also had an attitude on her that made his blood boil. He didn't know what to think. He fascinated her. That was it. She was interesting—different. She was a walking contradiction and he couldn't help but feel the need to want to see her again.

Aang sighed. Maybe he was thinking about this too much. After all, what were the chances of seeing her again? In reality, they were slim to none. Those first two instances had been pure coincidence. The universe was playing tricks on him. It was bored. It put him in a strange situation and wanted to see how he would react. That was it. Besides, Jet didn't seem to see eye to eye with him in terms of finding out what this girl's deal was. Jet had a strong opinion of nobles—he flat out detested them. There were no exceptions in his eyes. Once a noble, always a noble. That was his favorite phrase. So the fact that Aang was obsessing over this girl was probably making him a little testier than usual.

Maybe he was just wasting his time. After he found her again, what would he do? He doubted he would befriend her, and there definitely was a problem when taking into consideration the fact that he was homeless and she was loaded.

It was always that painful fact that made Aang get that girl out of his head every single time. _She's totally out of my league and it's not even worth it._ It was true. There was no use trying to find her if they were never meant to get along in the first place. They were too socially different. It didn't take a genius to figure out why Aang was better off forgetting.

So, he let the issue go. For now.

"Can we please get out of here?" Aang begged. "My leg is falling asleep."

"Are you crazy?" Jet hissed. "We can't go out there. And stop talking so loud. She'll hear you!"

Aang couldn't suppress the smile forming on his face. "What'll everyone down at the bar say when I tell them that you're hiding from a girl?"

"She's insane!"

"She's not even five feet tall."

"So? She's going to kill me."

"She weighs like seventy pounds. What damage could she possibly inflict?"

"You didn't see her last night. That girl is _possessive_. She said to meet her in front of the bakery today at noon, but I didn't go. She was a freak! She was latching on to me last night like we were dating. All I did was wink at her. Now she thinks we're in a relationship. So when I stood her up this morning, she comes and finds me, and now she wants my blood!"

Sometimes, Aang was really curious as to how Jet got himself into situations like this. Aang was sure that Jet didn't just wink at the girl. They probably flirted, had something to drink, and chatted a little bit. Aang didn't know too much about the inner workings of the female brain, but he did know that once you start talking and flirting with a girl, they think that a relationship is brewing. Sure Aang didn't have as much field experience as Jet did, but he certainly picked things up faster.

Girls also don't like it when you stand them up.

That leads to catastrophic problems no matter who you're dealing with.

Jet was just unlucky enough to have befriended a freak last night.

It was true. The girl was acting a little scary. Aang and Jet were both currently crouched underneath the jeweler's table in the market place. They had been underneath there hiding from Jet's friend for ages. Aang didn't know what in the world was going on when Jet grabbed him by the arm out of nowhere and pulled him under a display table. But he quickly put two and two together when he saw a very small, but very angry girl walk dangerously close to their hiding spot, calling out his name and threatening to chop of a very important part of him if he didn't show his face.

Aang thought that girl would have gotten the hint by now, because this was just ridiculous.

"Why don't you go out there and talk to her?" Aang reasoned. "It's better than crouching down here like a bunch of idiots."

Jet's eyes grew large. "Are you crazy? I don't want to die!"

"If you don't' explain yourself we are going to be down here forever."

"No. We're waiting. She has to leave sometime."

"You said that two hours ago!"

"She publicly made it clear that she wants me dead or severely maimed…possibly both! I am not going out there."

Sometimes, Jet was so damn difficult.

Aang pinched the bridge of his nose. "Look. We still need to stock up on clothes. It's getting cold and we don't have anything warm to wear. So either you get your ass out there and apologize, or we are going to freeze to death."

"All these girls are going bonkers. First it's nobles running around without a leash and now this," Jet muttered.

Aang groaned. He stuck his head out from under the table and cautiously looked around. There she was. She was a very, very short girl. Like he had said before, she was definitely under five feet and probably didn't weigh more than seventy or eighty pounds. Chocolate brown hair tied into braids, light brown eyes, a pink dress, and a look that screamed "scary." Aang could understand why Jet had probably looked at her. She was pretty. If someone saw her walking down the street, she was worth turning your head to spare a passing glance. But apparently, she took relationships very seriously. Right now she was talking to some merchant and asking him if he'd seen Jet. She was going around interrogating everyone, her eyes ablaze with fury.

Jet really pissed off the wrong girl.

"We can't stay down here," Aang decided. "We need to do something."

"Speak for yourself, buddy," Jet said quietly. "There is no way in hell I'm risking going out there."

"So you're telling me that you are willing to outrun ten merchants after stealing an armful of food and clothing, but you can't apologize to a girl half your size?"

"Shut up!"

Aang rolled his eyes and rolled up his sleeves. "Well. If you're not going, I am."

Jet grabbed Aang's shoulder and looked at him like he was about to sacrifice himself in battle. "You'll get massacred!"

"Oh, give me a break. She's just a girl."

"Famous last words."

"It's not like she has a knife."

"You don't know that!"

"Look," Aang said firmly. "I'm not spending the rest of today hiding under here. I'm going."

Aang shoved Jet off of him and peeked out from under the table. Making sure that she was a good distance away from their hiding spot, Aang crawled out from underneath and dusted off his clothes. He bent down and pulled the table cloth down, covering the space underneath the table. He saluted to Jet and started to look around for the girl.

It was a little difficult seeing as how the market place was bustling with people even this early in the morning. It also didn't help that the girl was incredibly short and small, so she probably blended in well with the crowd. Aang began to walk around the booths, keeping his eyes downward just in case he saw her nearby. He felt a little ridiculous to be honest. He was apologizing to a girl that he had never even met and he had to somehow explain to her that Jet didn't mean to act like a complete jerk and stand her up. He was just trying to avoid you because he thought you were clingy and didn't like you.

He didn't care what it was that he would eventually have to say to the girl. As long as she left, Aang personally didn't care.

Aang looked to the right and saw a girl leaning over the counter of a merchant selling bags and knapsacks. He quickly realized that it was the girl they had been hiding from for two hours. She was holding the poor man behind the counter by his collar and had her face only a few inches away from his. It would have looked like she was about to kiss him had she not been yelling her head off and had the merchant not been looking at her as if he was afraid for his life. When she realized that he wasn't telling her anything, she roughly shoved him back behind the table and let him tumble to the ground, completely dazed.

Aang shook his head. He didn't know how he was going to do this.

The girl was whipping her head back and forth, looking for a stranger that she hadn't already interrogated when Aang had lightly tapped her on the shoulder. She quickly turned and glared at Aang with her eyes flashing with anger. She even went so far as to look at him up and down quickly before firmly planting her feet on the ground and staring up at his face.

"Have you seen a boy around your height, tan skin, short dark brown hair? I need to speak with him immediately."

Well, she certainly didn't waste any time getting to the point.

Aang smiled as largely as he could. Girls have told him that he looked cute when he did that, and he figured it'd be worth a shot in terms of calming her down. "No I haven't seen him, but it sounds like you're describing my friend. He sent me here to talk to you."

"He didn't come here himself?" she asked angrily. "Pff. What a coward!"

Aang shrugged slightly and continued. "Well, he explained to me what had happened the other day, and he wanted me to tell you that he was sincerely sorry for not meeting you today."

The girl crossed her arms, but it looked like her anger was dissipating a little bit. "What happened?"

_Eh. That's a good question. _

"Well," Aang started. "He had an important family emergency that he had to take care of today. He's going to be busy for the next few days, so he also asked me to tell you that he won't be able to date any girls for the time being. He is just too preoccupied at the moment."

Aang was having a lot of trouble reading this girl. He couldn't tell if she was calming down, or just getting angrier. The girl clicked her tongue to her teeth in thought and fiddled with the sleeves of her dress. She looked up at Aang again, still looking a little bit annoyed.

"He promised me that he would talk to me today. We promised to meet."

He knew it. Jet had flirted with her and promised to meet her. Aang knew that this girl didn't just follow him while knowing nothing about him. Jet strung her along for the night and then totally ditched her the next morning. And now Aang was coming out here like some damn saint to try and cover up for Jet's mistakes. Jet better make it up to him, because now Aang was slowly realizing how completely stupid this was.

"Well," he said slowly, buying time for an idea to pop into his head. "He had forgotten when he was talking to you. He felt bad about just leaving you hanging like this, so he sent me to tell you."

The girl tilted her head, and her eyes immediately switched from showing anger, to showing curiosity. IN fact, her whole body seemed to relax so quickly it was almost a little scary. Her fists weren't clenched anymore, her cheeks weren't flushed with anger, and she started looking up at him rather innocently. She bit her lip and spoke softly. "H-He…he really went through all of that trouble?"

Wow, was this actually working?

"Er…yeah," Aang nodded. "He felt terrible about it too. But you have to understand that this family issue is very important."

The girl brought a hand to her heart. "That's so sweet!"

This was actually working?

"He would have met you had issues not gotten in the way?"

The girl nodded furiously. "Oh no. I totally get it. I mean I expected that something important came up."

This…was…_working?_

Aang averted his eyes quickly and looked back at the jeweler's table. There was Jet, leaning out from under the table and watching curiously. He motioned for Aang to hurry up and get rid of the girl already. They had already wasted two hours hiding from this little thing. It wasn't a very good idea to waste any more time just so that they wouldn't hurt her feelings.

He turned back to the girl and saw that she was smiling sweetly. Aang shrugged. He supposed she didn't look too bad when she was smiling like that and not acting like a raging lunatic trying to find her "boyfriend." He was about to nod and walk away before she grabbed the sleeve of his shirt and turned him so that he was looking at her again.

"But, if you don't mind, I'd like you to send him a message. Is that okay?"

Aang shrugged. "Um, sure. Whatever you need to tell him I'll make sure he hears it."

The girl smiled sweetly and stepped closer to Aang. She leaned in closer and whispered softly. "Okay here it is."

_SLAP!_

Aang's head snapped to the right.

The girl was panting with anger and started yelling at full volume for everyone in the market place to hear. "Yeah right! You tell that jerk that I hope he has a nice life. Like I'm going to believe all of that crap about his family. I'm not that dumb. And I don't even need him in the first place. I hope that sick freak dies young, you hear me! Make sure you tell him that!" She turned on her heel, turned her nose up in the air, and stalked away into the crowd.

People had paused to see what was happening. Some just stared after the girl curiously, wondering what in the world this boy could have done to her to make so upset. Some people rolled their eyes and kept on walking. They chalked it up to teenagers acting foolish again and didn't feel it was any of their business. But most were standing over Aang's body, wondering if the poor boy was alright.

Aang was currently on the ground, in pain, and holding his cheek. He was sure that his brain knocked against his skull from the force of that girl's slap. He didn't know what he said. He was nice, he was trying to be honest, and he didn't come off as rude at all. Then she goes and slaps him. _Hard._ Aang could feel the heat radiating from his cheek, and he was almost positive that there was going to be a handprint there for a while.

Jet had ran over to him as Aang was getting on his knees. Jet grabbed Aang by the arm and hoisted him up from the ground and onto his feet. Jet gasped and looked closer at Aang's cheek.

"Dude, you're bleeding!"

Aang furrowed his brows and touched his cheek. Sure enough, the sticky, metallic smelling liquid was all over his fingers and was currently dripping down his jaw and onto his shirt. Aang sighed and held his cheek to ease the pain.

"Man, she really dug her claws into you, didn't she?"

Aang moved his jaw around. "Yeah. Imagine what would have happened to me had she decided to punch me?"

Jet scratched his head nervously. "Eh heh. I guess I owe you an apology."

Aang shook his head and pushed himself away from Jet's grasp. "Oh, you're going to owe me way more than an apology. She scratched my face off!"

Jet flinched. "Aang, she cut you really deep."

"Yeah, I know. I can feel it."

Jet ripped off a piece of his shirt from the sleeve and handed it to Aang. Aang snatched it away from him harder than necessary and held it up to his cheek so that the fabric would soak up the blood. He grumbled to himself as the pain started to get worse.

"You want to head over to Katara?" Jet asked him.

Aang rolled his eyes. "We are _so_ behind schedule."

"Oh relax," Jet assured him. "We have all day tomorrow to look for something. I'm going to turn in early tonight, too. After today, I think I should steer clear of the city. You know, in case she sees me again."

"Yeah, and before we wind up having matching faces," Aang muttered bitterly.

Jet brought a hand down on Aang's shoulder and led him across the market. "Don't worry trooper. Don't forget, I still owe you."

"Oh believe me," Aang assured him. "You'll be hearing the terms later on."

Jet sighed. "Fine."

Aang sighed and pressed the cloth closer to his cheek. "Do you think she'll be awake?"

"This is Katara we're talking about," Jet assured him. "Even if she isn't awake, once she sees your face, her Motherly Mode will kick in. She'll patch you up in no time."

Aang scowled and kept walking forward with a sour look on his face. "Whatever. And just because you're coming with me to Katara's doesn't change anything. You've got a lot of sucking up to do to make up for this."

**OOO**

Katara was a girl about eighteen years old who lived right next to the market place in a respectable little house. She didn't live with her parents. Her mother died when she was little and her father had moved to Ba Sing Se to see if he could make a better living in a bigger city. That left Katara alone, living with her brother. Her brother went out and got a job and the Craftsman's store. Sokka was really good with his hands. He liked inventing things and knew how to put together things like chairs, tables, carts, doors, and so much more. He was somewhat of a handyman, and he made a decent amount of money for it. So while they did hear from their father often and he sent a few silver pieces every month, Sokka also made enough money to keep him and his sister afloat financially. All together, they lived a modest, but comfortable lifestyle, and they were both content with it.

While her brother was away, Katara liked to set up a makeshift hospital in her home. Had she gone to a University, she probably would have been able to become a decent doctor. But because she wasn't a fan of all of the studying and pressure that came with getting a degree, she said that she would much rather stay at home and treat people who came to her when they got hurt. Besides, she always said that she wouldn't have any time to herself if she went to school. She had everything she needed, and she liked it that way.

Her mother used to be a nurse, so there were cabinets and cabinets or herbs, antiseptics, bandages, splints, and creams used to treat almost anything. And what was even better was that Katara didn't charge a dime for her services. That meant that she got quite a lot of homeless children coming into her home because they had a sprained knee or because they had a stomach ache. Sometimes, if she had extra food, she would slip the little kids pieces of bread and cheese for them to have as a snack. She was a very sweet girl and everyone was indebted to her.

Katara was wrapping up a long roll of bandages when her friend sitting at the kitchen table sighed loudly.

"Honestly," Katara laughed, rolling up the cotton bandages. "I think you're over thinking this situation too much."

"Really," her friend said exasperatedly. "Because it's been all day and I still can't get over it."

Katara shook her head and walked behind the kitchen table. She opened up a wooden cabinet and places the bandages safely in the back. When she closed it, she reached for the counter and picked up two cups of jasmine tea. She sat down across from her friend and set down the two cups of tea for the both of them.

"Is that why you're here? Because this is bothering you so much?" Katara asked curiously.

Katara's friend said nothing.

Katara sighed and took a sip from her tea cup. "Personally, Toph, I don't think you should be running away every time you and your parents don't see eye to eye on something. You should talk to them about it."

Toph Bei Fong sighed. She picked up her tea cup and started swirling the tea around, not bothering to take a sip. She watched the fumes of steam rise out of the cup, trying to ignore Katara's advice.

"Toph. I know you heard me."

The girl looked up with her green eyes. She tapped a fingernail against the side of the porcelain cup and spoke bitterly. "I do talk to them about it. The problem with them is that they both have tunnel vision. They only see what they believe in and refuse to listen to what I have to say. Talking to them is like talking to a brick wall. Utterly useless."

"What happened?"

Toph shrugged and took a long drink from her tea cup. She placed it down on the saucer and pushed it away from her. She crossed her arms on the table, rested her chin on top of them, and stared at Katara across from her.

"It was nothing. I asked them if I could go and visit the town by myself for one day, but their excuse to me was that I'm too young and that I'm not ready."

Katara pursed her lips. "You're seventeen."

"I know!" Toph almost shouted. "It's getting very tiring to have to sneak out like this all of the time. It would be nice to be able to just leave whenever I want to and not have to act like a thief about it."

"They're just being overprotective. That means they love you," Katara offered helpfully.

"If they really loved me, they would listen to what I have to say," Toph muttered distastefully.

Toph sighed again. "I'm sorry for barging in on you like this. It's just that I've been getting pretty lonely at home and talking to the four walls all day isn't healthy. You can imagine how fun talking to my parents is. You're my only other option in terms of good conversation."

Katara nodded. "I understand. After all, I did tell you to come on over whenever you're feeling a little down. We're friends, we offer a shoulder to lean on when we need one."

Katara had befriended Toph Bei Fong about five years ago. Toph had been twelve years old and Katara had just turned thirteen. Katara was about to go outside and take a walk around the city when she saw a small little girl wandering around the streets as if she were lost. She had gone up to the girl and asked her if she needed any help. She remembered Toph scowling and saying that she didn't need any help and that she knew exactly where she was. Katara smiled and introduced herself to the girl and the girl introduced herself as Toph. Katara had noticed that Toph clearly wasn't properly dressed for the weather. It was freezing outside and all the girl had put on was a think shirt, some slacks and a small cloak. The girl didn't look like she really had anywhere to go—or anywhere she _wanted_ to go—and was just wandering around the streets aimlessly. Katara felt terrible, so she had invited the girl to her house.

She served jasmine tea—which Katara was to learn later was Toph's favorite tea—and a nice warm, home cooked dinner. They had talked for a few hours after dinner before Toph insisted that she had to leave. Katara gave the girl one of her thick, wool cloaks to walk home in so that she wouldn't be cold. She sent the girl on her way and watched her disappear into the streets.

After that, Toph would always come around a few times a week and speak with Katara and have a cup of tea with her. Toph was really interesting to talk to. She always had this self confident air around her and she was very exuberant with the way she spoke. She also couldn't help but drop in a few hints of sarcasm in her daily conversation. Toph always said that sarcasm kept people on their toes and it was funny to see how they reacted to it. All around, the girl was very different from most of the female friends that Katara ran into. Most of them were very quiet and far too polite. Toph was like a breath of fresh air and offered a little bit of variety that Katara greatly appreciated as well as enjoyed.

Katara had accidently found out that Toph was actually Toph Bei Fong a year after she met her. Toph had been wearing a dark cloak one day that Katara agreed to hang in the hallway until she was ready to leave. She hadn't done it on purpose, but Katara peeked into the hood of the cloak had seen the Bei Fong symbol embroidered on the inside of the cloak along with the name "Toph Bei Fong." When Katara had showed Toph the name and the flying boar symbol, the younger girl's eyes immediately went frantic and worried. She had clasped Katara's hands in her own and begged her not to tell anyone what she had learned. Katara agreed immediately, not wanting to upset the girl further. But she couldn't help but ask why it was that Toph had been wandering around the streets like this. It was, after all, a bit strange to see a noble such as herself wandering around like this unattended.

Toph kept the story very short. She didn't like being at home, so she often snuck out to get some fresh air. Toph never elaborated past that and Katara never pushed her. She figured that the noble girl would explain more if she felt ready. And personally, Katara like having the girl around. She was good company: very funny, but also very nice. So they kept up this arrangement for years: Toph would always come to Katara's house whenever she felt lonely or upset, and Katara would always be there to offer friendly company.

"I think I'm going to stop asking," Toph decided suddenly. "I mean, I've been keeping at it for ages and they don't let up their decision. I feel like the more I ask the less likely they'll agree to it."

Katara shrugged. "You really need to speak with them more often, Toph. They really don't mean any ill will. They're just trying to protect you."

The younger girl rolled her eyes and covered her face with her arms. "Well, they need to stop. I'm suffocating," she complained, her voice coming out muffled.

Katara shook her head. She patted Toph on the head and asked her if she wanted any more tea. Toph nodded and thanked her again for listening to her pathetic ramblings. Katara searched through the cabinets of her kitchen and started looking for the tea leaves.

"Don't worry, hon," Katara smiled. "I'm sure they'll have to let up on their over protectiveness sooner or later. I mean, you're almost an adult. Technically, they can't tell you what to do after that."

Toph held up a finger and pointed it at Katara. "Don't jinx it! Besides, they'll come up with something to keep me there. They always do. They're the king and queen of excuses. They'll keep coming up with them until they die."

"I think you're over reacting."

Toph shook her head stubbornly. "Watch. If we switch places for a day, you'll see what I'm talking about. I'd much rather live here with you than in that gigantic house."

Katara laughed and opened up two more cabinets. "Don't let anyone else hear you say that. They'll get upset."

"I know, I know." Toph looked up from the table and saw Katara still shuffling around in the cabinets. "What is in there?"

"Oh, spices and stuff. A few of these are medicinal."

"How can you tell when none of the jars are marked?"

"I just know."

"Well it doesn't look like you know what you're doing," Toph smirked.

"I know where I'm looking," Katara insisted.

Toph sighed and rolled her eyes. "Here. Move over, I'll help you look."

Toph was about to stand up and help her search around before she heard a knock coming from the front door. Toph didn't think much of it. Katara liked to keep her door open for anyone that got hurt or sick around the neighborhood. Even when Toph was visiting, Katara would sit people down at that kitchen table and give them medicine for a fever, bandages for a cut, or even a little bit of food if they looked particularly hungry. Her brother wasn't supposed to be back until later tonight, so it had to be someone who was sick or hurt.

"Here," Toph said, nudging Katara out of the kitchen. "I'll look for the tea. You answer the door."

Toph hopped up on top of the counter—she needed to extra height since she was shorter than Katara—and started rummaging around through the jars and containers that Katara kept up here. She didn't know how Katara knew where anything was. Nothing was marked and it didn't seem as if anything up here was in any sort of organization. She started opening up the pots and smelling them to see if maybe she could identify the tea leaves that way.

She had just come across a jar of green tea when she heard Katara's voice down the hallway.

"Honestly, Aang. How in the world did you accomplish this?"

Toph shrugged. Katara must have known the guy for her to be scolding him like that. It sounded as if there was an additional person besides Katara and this Aang person, but she couldn't be sure. She was still focused on trying to figure out what exactly was in all of these jars that littered the cabinets.

Katara had brought in Aang and the other person that had come inside with them and sat them both on the kitchen table. It sounded by the way Katara was carrying on that Aang had a cut on his cheek from something. Katara crossed the kitchen and dipped a towel into a basin of warm water. She rung it out and handed it to Aang, instructing him to press it to the cut to keep it from bleeding. Aang grumbled a response and did what he was told.

Toph sniffed another jar. She smiled and nodded. That was definitely jasmine tea. She placed the jar on the counter and hopped off of her perch on the counter.

"Katara I found the jasmine tea. You want me to pull out some cups for everyone?"

"Would you? Thanks so much!"

Toph turned around to the table.

"Yeah, it's no prob—"

Toph froze.

Brown, messy hair. Grey eyes.

The boy had looked up from the table, still holding a towel to his cheek until his eyes widened similar to Toph's. His jaw went slack as well as hers and they both looked the other up and down at the same time.

"Oh, gosh. I totally forgot to introduce the two of you. Aang this is my friend Toph. Toph this is my other friend Aang. I can't believe I forgot to introduce the two of you sooner. I had meant to invite you over Aang because I thought that you would really…"

Katara's words slowly started disappearing into the atmosphere until they were no longer comprehensible. Both Toph and Aang began to feel a writhing and uncomfortable feeling in their stomachs the longer they started at each other. Toph's face contorted into a scowl and Aang's head tilted in disbelief.

They were both completely frozen on the spot.

"You cannot be serious."

**OOO**

_**A/N: **__Hm, rushed in my opinion but that might just be me. Sorry for the slight delay, but I was a bit unhappy with the direction the chapters were taking and I decided to do something different and rewrote them a bit. Let's hope it turns out well. _

_BENEFITS OF BEING MY BETA!_

_1) You get to be the first person (aside from me of course) who gets to see a sneak peek of the chapter. 2) I worship the ground my beta walks on. They have the ability of fixing mistakes in my writing. Anyone who can do that is a GOD in my eyes. 3) You will be formally thanked in every single chapter with lots of smiley faces and hearts. And come on...what's better than that?_

_So please send my a PM if you are interested. I would greatly appreciate it. _

_Thank you for all of your wonderful reviews, by the way. And please, don't hesitate to comment on this chapter and let me know what you think. Until next time!_


	4. Interaction

_**A/N**: Oh, I do owe you all an apology. School's been rough lately and I've bee up to my ears in exams, applications, course registrations, essays, and a barrage of other things I can't even name. But, I have returned, hopefully with a funny little chapter to lift your spirits. I hope you all are doing well, and I hope you enjoy the chapter. _

_And, as promised...:) :) :) :) Thank you to DJChef7 for BETAing for me. Thank you so much! :) :) :) :)_

**OOO**

**Chapter 4**

**Interaction**

**OOO**

Toph had to blink a few times before she was convinced that what she was seeing in front of her was actually real and not some deranged part of her mind playing unnecessary tricks on her.

The first thing that she had recognized was the unkempt brown hair that simply would not lie flat on the boy's head. She was sure that had she pulled a comb through all of those tangles, his hair would probably not look much different than it did now. Then there were his eyes. Deep grey eyes that looked like they had small bits of another color in there as well. Green, perhaps? A little bit of brown? Maybe black? She wasn't sure. But they were a unique color that she had recognized immediately. He had extremely pale skin that rivaled her own. She liked to think that her skin matched the color of the white candle sticks that she used to light up her room at night. But this boy could have very well had skin just as pure white as hers. She also happened to notice the line that was a shade darker than the rest of skin that ran up from his left wrist to the middle of his forearm. It must have been an old scar, but again it was something she immediately recognized.

His clothes were a bit familiar as well. While his tunic today was different, she was sure that the slacks he was wearing today were the same ones she had seen on him before. Black with a grey patch on the right knee. They were also faded and ripped towards the end of the pants as if he had been stepping on the hem of the slacks often and was slowly wearing holes and rips in the bottom. He had the same slim yet muscular build, the same narrow face, and the same tall stature.

It was definitely him. It was the boy that she had bumped into at the tea shop last night.

The only question was what he was doing _here_ of all places.

Her initial reaction was to scowl at him. She did remember explicitly what had occurred the night before and she was still slightly annoyed by it. But she couldn't stop the look of irritation from fading away from her features and being replaced with a look of pure wonder. It seems that the boy was stuck in a similar situation. It was as if neither was quite sure if they should be upset or confused. It was strange after all. It wasn't everyday that you happened to run into a familiar stranger at your best friend's home. Truly, Gaoling was enormous. Granted it wasn't the biggest city around—Ba Sing Se still had that proud title—but it was certainly big enough to be called a decent sized metropolis. The odds of them seeing each other again were slim, and she half hoped that they would have remained that way.

Yet here they were staring each other down for the second time in the past two days. It was all very disconcerting.

Katara's puzzled voice broke through Toph's daze and caused the green eyed girl to turn her head to the side. She shook it slightly and blinked in Katara's direction. "I'm sorry?"

"I asked if you two knew each other. You reacted as if you guys recognized each other, but I didn't know that you had already met," she asked curiously. Her eyes were brightened with curiosity and glee at the realization that two of her companions had already befriended each other.

Toph hesitated and bit her lip. She snapped her gaze back to the boy and saw the same look of apprehension cross his features. They clearly both knew Katara well enough to know that if they admitted the fact that they had indeed met already, she would ask for details upon more details of said meeting. But frankly, Toph preferred not to go into the details. She really didn't want Katara to make things more awkward than they had already become. Although it looked like he had another reason, aside from Katara's over enthusiasm, for not wanting to discuss their initial meeting with everyone else, the boy seemed to have been thinking along the same lines as she had been for the most part. He stood up from his chair, shook his head and plastered what looked like an extremely fake smile on his face.

"I think we might have made a mistake. I thought you looked like a friend of mine that I had met a few weeks ago, but it looks as if I was wrong. I'm sorry for startling you." He finished off the statement with what he must have thought was a charming and heart-fluttering smile complete with a small chuckle at the end of his sentence, further adding to the effect that he had made an honest mistake.

Toph couldn't help but raise a brow at the action. Despite the fact that his cheek was still sporting angry, red claw marks that ran from the apples of his cheek down to his jaw, he still looked…well…endearing with that smile on. She almost forgot that she was technically supposed to be upset with him and already felt the blood in her body begin to collect in her cheeks and in her ears. Had she had little to no self control, she probably would have just stayed there staring at him. But lucky for her she still knew that this was the same guy that relentlessly pissed her off last night. He was probably being gentlemanly and sweet just to prove to Katara that there was no animosity. She could tell from the glint in his eyes that he was just as irritated with her as she was with him. So, she managed to fake an apology that she proudly thought rivaled his own.

Toph giggled a little and pressed a hand to her chest. "Oh don't even worry about it. You looked a lot like one of my old cousins; I mean the resemblance is uncanny. But I think we both made a mistake. Excuse me." She batted her eyelashes a little towards the end and flashed him a sweet, close-lipped smile complete with an innocent little tilt of the head.

Damn, she was a good actress.

She couldn't help but laugh on the inside when she quickly realized that the boy was doing a far worse job hiding the blush that was currently staining his cheeks than she was. But of course, he firmly shook his head and switched his gaze to that of a glare. He clicked his tongue in annoyance and was tapping his nails against the back of the chair that he was tightly gripping. Toph matched up his glare with a pointed look and a self righteous smirk. She crossed her arms tightly over her chest and kept her gaze fixated on him.

Well, if he wanted to play games, she would gladly reciprocate.

He released his grip on the chair and held out his hand towards her. He softened his glare a bit, but still kept just the right amount of heat in it to show her that he did not forget their first meeting. "My name is Aang. It's nice to meet you."

Toph grabbed his hand a bit more firmly than he probably expected her to and shook it twice. She smiled bitterly while her eyes sparkled with dislike. "I'm Toph. Nice to meet you, too."

They immediately withdrew their hands and hid them from sight: Aang's in his pockets and Toph's in the crooks of her arms when she crossed them over her chest again. They turned their heads slightly away from each other and barely listened to the statements of approval Katara was sending their way. Toph grimaced. As if she would just willingly approve of this guy.

She didn't forget what happened. She was late going home yesterday and was in a huge hurry to get home. She had a small window of time to sneak back inside before her parents figured anything out. So it was certainly not according to plan when she managed to bump into a stupid server boy who was too busy flirting with the girl he was serving tea to in order to realize that he was walking straight in her path. Not only did he send her careening to the floor, but he scattered the package she was carrying all over the place. But she accepted it. She was annoyed, but it was a minor detour. She would have made it home on time if she hurried.

But then Mr. Hero shows up to help his poor Damsel-In-Distress.

Honestly, they were just books. He didn't need to swoop in like some good Samaritan and help her or anything. It's not like she dropped a bunch of cinderblocks. But _no_. He had to go and mix up all of her books, try to smooth out the pages, and further slow her down. She actually had to snatch the books back from him when he decided to hold them and start a damn conversation. She knew that the buckle holding her books was broken. No, she didn't want him to fix it for her. Yes, she was sure that she could carry the books home by herself. No, she didn't need his help.

She thought she had made all of that abundantly clear when she told him to get lost. She didn't need him helping her, she could deal with this on her own, and she didn't have time to stop by for formalities. She didn't have time to bow to him, thank him for his help, and apologize for her rush, and she certainly didn't have time for him to carry her things back to her house for her. She needed to _go_.

Then he goes and calls her unmannered.

Where did this Aang guy even get the gall to say something like that to her?

He barely knew her and he didn't even take the time to think that she was rushing to get out of there. Oh, she set him straight and told him to leave her alone for good. But it didn't stop the fact that he left her extremely agitated. And by the looks of his face and of his demeanor, the feeling seemed mutual. Well, that was perfectly alright with her. So long as they got this horrid meeting over with as soon as possible, she really didn't care. Let him hate her for all she cared. They would be getting rid of each other soon anyway.

Katara ripped Toph out of her thoughts as she placed a hand on her shoulder. "Can you finish up with the tea while I fix Aang's cheek? I think it's getting worse."

Toph turned and saw that the scratches were already starting to bleed again and the droplets of blood were already traveling down his jaw to his chin. His friend—the one with the dark hair…what was his name…?—handed him a spare cloth that was on the table and told him to cover up the cuts before he bled to death on the floor. As soon as Aang pressed it to his cheek, she already saw the red stain bleeding through the thin cloth. He must have been prone to excessive bleeding, because he was currently making those scratches look a lot worse than they probably were.

Since she was eager to get out of his way for just a little while and mutter to herself in privacy at the other end of the kitchen, Toph nodded and started pulling out the tea kettle and filling it with water. Toph thanked her again and sat back down at the kitchen table to assess the damage inflicted upon Aang's face.

Toph had just put the kettle over the fire to boil just as she heard Katara ask the two boys what on Earth happened.

The dark haired boy scratched the back of his head nervously. "Well…I just want to tell you that it was nobody's fault. It was just a freakish circumstance that could have happened to anybody."

Aang scoffed at that comment. "Oh don't give me that. It was completely your fault."

"It was not completely my fault. You have to admit, that girl was fully to blame for this," the other boy retorted.

"Wait," Katara said, pulling out a jar filled with antiseptic. "What girl are you talking about, Jet?"

Toph turned and saw Jet open his mouth to respond, but quickly closed it as if he was embarrassed to disclose any information. He sighed and ran a hand through his hair before he reluctantly responded.

"It was a girl that I met at a bar yesterday, okay?"

"Uh huh," Katara nodded, her features growing more and more skeptical the more she stared at Jet. "And what does this girl have to do with Aang getting hurt?" She rubbed a thick cream onto Aang's cheek that looked as if it stung on contact. Aang flinched slightly as Katara worked the medicine into his face.

"Apparently, he promised to meet her today, but he never showed up," Aang continued for him. "So then when she goes on a rampage through the market in order to find him, Jet drags me under a table to hide from her."

Katara paused and looked skeptically at Jet. "You were hiding from a girl?"

"Correction: a mentally unstable maniac who just happened to be female," Jet stated.

Katara shook her head. "I swear you're just like my brother. The two of you would get along great, let me tell you."

"The hell are you talking about?" Jet asked.

"Both of you go through girls continuously at a rate that should be deemed illegal. God knows you probably led the girl on and she got mad when you stood her up."

Jet leaned forward on the table and enunciated each of his words in order to make his point heard. "I. Did. Not. Stand. Her. Up. I didn't speak one word to the girl and she thinks that we're in a relationship the next day. It's not my fault that she's deranged."

Katara waved off his comment and started cutting some white bandages into small squares large enough to cover Aang's injuries. "Fine. Whatever. That still doesn't explain why Aang got hurt."

"Well, he decided to go play hero and go talk to the freak!"

"Excuse me. Had I not gone and talked to her we would still be hiding under that display table. I had to do something."

Katara gaped. "You sent him out there to solve your petty relationship problems?"

"No," Jet corrected. "He went on his own. I tried to stop him, but he wouldn't listen."

Toph brought over the four cups of jasmine tea to the table that they were all seated at. She placed down Aang's cup a little bit more forcefully than was probably necessary—just to spite him—and calmly sat next to Katara on the other side of the table, as far away from Katara's patient as possible. He stared at her incredulously, almost as if he were asking her what in the world he had done to offend her. But he just rolled his eyes and took a sip from his cup, warily keeping his eyes on her the entire time. Toph just leaned back into her chair and drank her tea quietly, not daring to rip her gaze away from him either.

Katara started to place the strips of bandages on Aang's cheek. "Then what happened?" she asked reluctantly.

Aang decided to respond. "I made up some story about Jet having family issues to sort out and that he couldn't make it. I thought she had bought it for a second, but then she goes and slaps me across the face and storms off."

Toph couldn't help but jump in. "What was she, a rabid cat?"

Jet shook his head. "No, she just had a really good manicure."

Katara finished off the project by taping the bandages in place on Aang's cheek. Aang moved his jaw around, letting himself get used to the feeling of the bandages covering half of his face. Katara started collecting her medical supplies after taking a long sip from her tea. "Well, you're all better. Keep it covered for the next few days and it should heal up without scarring." Her attention turned to Jet.

"You on the other hand: keep people out of your women problems. Honestly, she could have clawed his face off."

"But she didn't, so we're good," Jet added helpfully. The frown that Katara was sending him, however, was not very reassuring.

Jet started arguing with Katara over the fact that he hadn't actually endangered the life of his best friend, but Toph rolled her eyes and tried her best to ignore the entire conversation. She was more concerned with how she was going to talk her way out of this house. Katara almost always had her stay for lunch and Toph always accepted the offer when it was given to her. But personally, she didn't want to stick around any longer than necessary. This whole thing of glaring at Aang and staying far away from him was honestly exhausting. Plus, she just flat out didn't want to be associated with him at the moment. They clearly didn't like each other and it wasn't doing either of them any good suffering through prolonged exposure.

Staying here was making Toph uncomfortable. She truly just wanted to leave and forget that she had happened to run into the jerk. Even if it meant going home earlier than usual and having to deal with her parents.

Toph stood up from her chair and placed the tea cup down onto the table. She grabbed the cloak that she had hanging on the back of her chair and tied it around her neck. "Well, I hate to walk out of here like this in such a hurry, but I think I'd better get going."

Katara looked dejected. "Oh, can't you stay a little while longer?"

Toph sadly shook her head. "No, my parents want me back early today to help them out with something important," she lied. "I'd better go before I'm late."

Katara bit her lip, probably eager to have just a little bit more time with her friend today as she was interrupted with her job again, but the blue eyed girl nodded and waved goodbye to her friend. "Stop by soon alright?"

Toph nodded as she pushed her chair under the table and collected the mess that she had made in the kitchen. She piled her cup and the kettle she had used for the tea into a basin that Katara kept on the counter. "I will. I'll come by in a couple of days, I promise."

"Be careful getting home, okay?"

Toph nodded in assurance. "Don't worry, I'll be fine." Toph tightened the strings on her cloak and pulled the hood over her head so that her ears and head were shielded from the autumn winds blowing outside. She reverted back into her fake demeanor and smiled at the two boys sitting at the table in front of her. "It was nice meeting the two of you." Jet waved casually and went right back to sipping from her drink. Aang however didn't move from his previous position from his chair and was still intent on staring at the girl until she left. Toph didn't hesitate to send one more hostile glare before she rolled her eyes at him and headed for the door.

She reached the doorway of Katara's house and reached down for the package she had brought with her. She had stopped by the house of the owner of the tea shop and asked for more books to entertain her. The old man had a son who had moved away and went to study in Ba Sing Se. He happened to leave all of his novels with his father, insisting that they could be sold. But Toph had had a very nice conversation with the man and had stumbled upon his collection of books. She asked him if she could buy them from him and he agreed that he didn't mind in the least. So she always went to him whenever she could every time she wanted to catch up on some light reading.

The pile wasn't as large as the one from yesterday—he had only given her four this time—but she tightened the new buckle that he had given her today and held them closely to her chest. She would have to start reading all of them soon before she gave them all back, she noted mentally. She heard Katara call out one last farewell before she quickly slipped out of the house and into the busy streets.

**OOO**

It was probably the afternoon already and the streets were extremely crowded now that everyone was up, out, and going about their morning routines. Toph scowled. It was the only thing that she didn't like about Gaoling: the excess of people. Unless you were walking around early in the morning or extremely late at night, you always found yourself having to push yourself through thick crowds of people just to get where you needed to go. It was only really a problem once you started nearing the market place. But since Katara lived so close by to it, the front of her house was always a high traffic zone. Toph huffed and started to slowly push her way through the throngs of people.

She managed to press herself against a building and make a narrow path for her to walk along so that she wouldn't have to run into so many people. They were all running around so quickly that if you weren't watching where you were going, you could get knocked over and get lost among the moving bodies. Toph had to shove a few people out of the way and bump a few shoulders, but she eventually managed to reach a street corner. She turned to the right and saw that this road was a little less crowded than the one she was just on. She sighed in relief and began walking towards the estates.

Just when she thought that she had gotten out of the way of all of those busy bodies back near the market place, she heard a voice calling out behind her. Toph stopped and looked to the left and to the right of her. There was nothing but buildings and empty alleyways, and the people who were walking on either side of her seemed to be minding their own business. She shrugged off the feeling and began walking again. But she didn't take two steps before she heard the voice coupled with feet slapping against the ground in what sounded like a quick jog. Toph turned her head and scowled.

It was the boy—Aang.

Toph rolled her eyes and kept walking. What the heck was he doing now? She thought she made it perfectly clear that she didn't want to talk to him at the moment. That's why she left the house so quickly instead of staying and enjoying one of Katara's home cooked meals. Besides, wasn't he with a friend? Where was he? Why wasn't he with him? Why did he have to continue this record of them continuously bumping into each other by following her all the way from the house? She didn't want to see him! Didn't he get that?

She tried to walk faster and ignore him, but he had easily caught up to her and started walking casually along side of her. Toph grabbed the edge of her hood and pulled it over her face so that she wouldn't have to look at him. Instead, she kept her gaze forward and kept her eyes on the road in front of her, reminding herself that she would have to turn left once the road ended. She clutched her books tighter to her and refused to look his way. But unfortunately, he didn't even seem to be understanding the concept of a cold shoulder and was set on following her the entire way to her house. Toph scowled. She needed to get rid of him before she reached her house or else she would have to suffer through a lot of unnecessary explanations.

Toph was about to turn and yell at him for stalking her when he held out a thick, leather bound book in her face with gold letters on the cover.

Aang smirked at her as he waved the book in front of her. "You left a book behind at the house. I thought I'd return it to you."

The temptation to just push him into a wall and walk away in a huff was extremely hard to refuse. But she reluctantly grabbed the book from his hands and tucked it in with the rest of the books she was carrying, muttering a small "thank you" as she kept walking.

"So," Aang said dramatically. "The concept of a simple 'thank you' hasn't eluded you yet. I wonder what happened yesterday."

Toph grinded her teeth together and tried not to yell at him like she did yesterday. "I was in a rush and I needed to go. Excuse me for not stopping and having a heart to heart."

"It doesn't take that long to say two simple words," Aang insisted, walking in step with her with his hands tucked safely in the warmth of his pockets.

"Would you get lost?" she bit out. Aang raised an eyebrow at her and tried to suppress a glare. But Toph didn't wait for it to be sent her way before she quickened her pace and turned left.

"I would," Aang said conversationally, "but I live this way too." Toph glared at him from the corner of her eyes. She just knew that was a lie. The only thing that was down this way were a bunch of privately owned shops and a couple of restaurants. And she definitely knew that he wasn't heading for the same place she was heading. She wanted to just bash her head into a wall. What did he _want_?

She stopped trying to get rid of him after about five minutes. Every time she sped up, he matched her pace perfectly. When she made random turns down a street in order to lose him, he pursued on her heels without relenting. She considered running away from him and hoping that she would lose him, but she figured that if he managed to catch up with her so quickly from Katara's house, he had to be at least somewhat of a decent runner. It would have been highly embarrassing for her to sprint down a street only to get cut off by him a few seconds later. So she decided to just focus on getting home and ignoring him for the rest of the way. He'd get tired of following her soon anyway.

"So, you're reading _The Blind Bandit_, huh?" he asked, gesturing to the book he had handed her earlier.

_Doesn't he have something else better to do than to interrogate me?_, she thought.

"I finished reading it a few days ago," he added conversationally. "It was a pretty quick read, but it was really engaging. The descriptions of all of the fight scenes are just impeccable."

Now he was starting a book discussion?

"Is that so?" she replied shortly.

"Yeah," Aang continued. "You should read the sequel. I think it's called _The Runaway_. I haven't read it myself, but I think it should be a good read."

Toph nodded curtly. "Thanks for the suggestion. I'll read it later."

Aang continued to walk with his hands in his pockets and looked straight ahead of him. He remained silent for a while before he started chuckling to himself. Toph turned her head sharply to the side and looked at him up and down, thinking that he was acting a little crazy.

"What's so funny?"

Aang shook his head. "I'm sorry," he apologized. "I just realized something."

Toph narrowed her eyes. "What?"

"You and the main character in the _Blind Bandit _series are way too similar."

Toph, not having read the book yet, just stared at him with a cold gaze. She impatiently waited for him to stop chuckling and musing to himself in order for him to explain exactly what he was talking about.

"There's a boy in the book that goes to the Blind Bandit for help. But instead of attempting to help him, she challenges him to a fight. Then when he beats her, she gets upset and storms off without allowing the boy to finish his story. The same thing happens when they meet the second time: he asks for help, and she brushes him off saying that it 'wasn't her problem.'"

Toph bristled at the commentary. Not only was he completely spoiling the book, but she could tell he was making a rather insulting jab at her, just to get her upset.

"I just can't help but thinking that the two of you are both sharp tongued, hot headed, quick-to-get-angry girls. It explains so much about the last two days, you know that?"

The desire to pummel him into the ground was growing the more and more this boy spoke to her. Now all he was doing was teasing her to get back at her. All he had to do was give her book back and they both would have been on their way and they wouldn't have had to bump into each other again. But instead, he decided to fulfill some sick desire in his heart to get the last laugh out of all of this. She really was tempted to just kill him already.

She smirked to herself, her features hidden by the hood of her cloak. Like she said before, if he wanted to play games, she'd play games too.

Toph stopped abruptly in the middle of the street, keeping her head down low. Aang walked a few steps before realizing that the girl had suddenly stopped walking. He walked warily in front of her and tilted his head to try and get a good look at her face from under the hood. He even tried waving a hand in front of her face to try and get her attention. Thinking that something was wrong, he poked her on the shoulder and started asking her if she was feeling alright. Just when he had gotten close enough, Toph quickly stepped to the side and kicked a leg out. Her shin connected with the backs of his knees, causing the boy to immediately tumble to the ground on his knees. Toph then got behind him and pressed her foot firmly into the middle of his back. He toppled forward and his face landed into the dirt on the ground below him.

Toph couldn't help but let out a loud laugh. She clutched her stomach as the giggles racked through her body and brought tears to her eyes. She finally caught her breath long enough for her to force out a mocking statement.

"That's what you get for teasing me, you jerk. Consider it payback."

Toph could hear Aang grumbling into the ground underneath him. He was already attempting to get his arms underneath him and push himself up into and upright position. Toph kept chuckling at his position on the ground and walked in front of him. She placed the tip of her foot on the top of his head and pressed down. His face was pushed back into the ground, causing more bouts of laughter to erupt from the girl's mouth.

She had to admit, she liked him better like this anyway.

Toph removed her foot and placed her hands on her hips and wore an expression that was nothing short of absolute pride and smugness. She felt good, almost like she won a nice long battle. Seeing him on the floor like that brought forth a wave of good feelings, and she couldn't stop the laughter bubbling past her lips. Comically tucking her books under her arm and brushing the dust off her hands, she smirked at him one more time before calmly walking by him and walking back down the road.

Well…she tried to walk down the road.

That was until she felt a hand wrap around her ankle and pull her backwards. She immediately tripped and already started falling. In a lame attempt to try and turn herself around and regain her footing, she turned her body only to wind up on her back instead of her front. She hit the ground hard and even saw the dust from the ground billow up on either side of her. She groaned when she realized that she had landed on her shoulder and already felt the bruise forming there. Toph propped herself up on her elbows and looked down at her feet. Sure enough, Aang was holding her right ankle in his grasp. His head was up and facing hers and he had an incriminating smirk on his face and started laughing as well.

Toph ripped her foot out of his grasp and lowered her face until it was level with his. Her cheeks were flushed with anger as she yelled in his face. "What's your _problem_?"

Aang glared at her and yelled just as loud. "What's _your_ problem?"

Their staring stayed connected as they ignored all of the pedestrians walking past them and giving them strange looks. They were, after all, completely disregarding the fact that they were both still lying on the ground and arguing at the same time. People did their best to walk around the couple as the two of them continued to stare at each other menacingly.

Toph was the first to get up off of the ground and brush off her clothes. She grabbed her books, which had tumbled out of her grasp during her fall, and tucked them under her arm again. She glared at him as he also managed to get back up on his feet.

"You know what?" she declared. "I don't have time for you, okay? I need to go." With that she turned on her heel and began to promptly walk away.

Aang stood in his spot and called over to her. "Make sure you read that book _really_ well. You'll learn a lot more about yourself than you realize."

Toph froze. She turned on her heel and yelled back at him, her voice getting a little bit higher the more upset she got. "Why don't you go to the middle of town, stick your head in the water fountain, and I'll count to a million?"

"How about you learn how to talk to people instead of going around and threatening them all of the time?" he shot back at her.

"I don't talk respectably with people who don't respect me. You started this garbage anyhow with your little stunt last night."

"Oh are we back on that again?" Aang shouted, slowly walking closer to her. "For the last time, all you had to do was be _polite_, and I wouldn't have said anything against you. But no! You had to go act all spoiled rotten when I was just trying to help."

Toph stomped her foot into the ground. She started feeling more and more like a little kid fighting with a friend at the playground than a young woman arguing with an annoying stranger that she barely even knew save for his name. She even had her hand balled up into little fists at her sides. She knew she was acting a bit juvenile, but this guy was just ruffling her feathers in a way that wasn't pleasant in the least.

"You clearly love annoying me seeing as how you were following me home the whole time."

"I was returning your book," he defended. "I could have just kept it with me and thrown it in the garbage. But I went all the way here to give it back to you. You're _welcome!_"

Toph had enough. She screamed in frustration and turned around to walk the rest of the way home. But now before she walked up to Aang, planted a nice punch into his gut, and left him writhing on the ground in pain all over again. She walked to the street corner and turned to shout back at him. "Serves you right, creep!" Then she turned the corner and started walking back to her home. Much to her satisfaction, the boy was smart enough not to follow.

As she pushed and shoved through the people that got in her way, Toph couldn't help but notice that she was seeing red at the moment. No one had ever gotten her that upset before. Sure she had random arguments with people on the street, but nobody annoyed and infuriated her more than that guy. Just the thought of him made her blood boil. She thought she didn't like him before, but this was just ridiculous. She wanted nothing more than to press his face into the dirt again and laugh in his face. Even though she did manage ending with the last laugh, it wasn't enough. All of his teasing and comments got to her in a way that wouldn't leave her alone. Even when she tried to forget about his ranting and raving, his face just kept rearing its way into her mind again. And she couldn't stop it. He wouldn't go away.

Toph wondered how in the world Katara was friends with that guy. He was insufferable.

She brought a hand up to her temple and started massaging her impending headache away. She needed a nap. She really needed to just crawl up into her warm bed filled with soft, comfy sheets and just sleep the day away. Her parents were annoying her again today, which was why she snuck out of her house. But she was ready to go home and face the rest of the day with them rather than stay and put up with the delightful presence of that boy.

She ran a hand through her hair. What she really needed to do was to go home and _rest_. It was only the afternoon and she had already had enough for one day. Between the awkward mid afternoon tea at Katara's house to his stupid antics in the street while he was trying to follow her home, she was absolutely livid. Toph looked up at the sky. It wasn't too late. She had no doubt missed lunch already thanks to Aang's little performance just now, but that meant she would still have at least three or four hours to sleep before dinner rolled along.

So the girl marched through the streets of the city, glaring at the world and all of the people in it as she trudged her way back to her home, her temper still very, very short.

**OOO**

**_A/N 2: _**_Can I ask a favor of you all? I have a poll on my profile regarding a one shot that I had written. It's a Taang one shot so it's a pairing we all love, but it's really out there. Perhaps a little too out there for Fanfiction purposes. I was talking with a friend of mine and she says that it's far too different for Fanfiction and that it would probably not be appropriate. But I want opinions. So if you could answer the poll, I'd appreciate it. If some of you actually want details of the story, just tell me and I'll gladly send you a bit of what I have and have you read it. I just want people to read and enjoy it for what it is, but I'm not sure if it's okay for . But I would really love second opinions. Thank you all. _

_Whew! Long rant is over! I promise that you all won't have to wait so long next time. See you soon. _


	5. Risky

_**A/N:**__ So…I have some things to say._

_First off, I realize that the absence has been inexcusable. But I've been working on a lot of assignments and projects for various scholarships next year, and they needed a lot of effort and preparation placed into them. Not to mention I've been taking tests to apply for AP classes at school. While I love this story to death, school unfortunately came first. It also didn't help that my hard drive fried about three weeks ago. I haven't gotten my computer back actually. So, here we are: three and a half months later and I have decided to bring you a super long chapter to apologize (19 pages long on word!). It is summer vacation now so I won't have school to get in the way of my writing, which is good news for you all and for me!_

_This was typed quickly on a computer that wasn't my own, hence why it wasn't beta-ed. But I wanted to post this quickly and I didn't want to rush my beta. So, DJChef7, I thought I'd give you a break for this chapter as an apology for leaving you hanging for so long. Thanks for everything else you've done for me in the past, and I'll definitely be sending you Chapter 6 in the near future. _

_So! Long AN over! Please enjoy the long chapter. _

**OOO**

**Chapter 5**

**Risky**

**OOO**

Aang continued to dig through the small amount of clothing that he stored in the tiny closet of his bedroom. As he came into contact with something else that was hidden within the confined space, he flung it over his shoulder and allowed it to sprawl on the floor behind him. Boxes were opened, crates were pushed aside, and dark corners that were hiding even more belongings were uncovered and relinquished of anything they may have been concealing. It wasn't a job that took too long seeing as how Aang didn't own much to begin with, but inventory was important, and it was time that he set to it.

After the closet was completely cleared out, Aang turned around and sat down on the floor. He leaned forward and brought the pile of clothes closer to him so that they settled in between his outstretched legs. His eyes were already growing wary as he noticed the sheer lack of clothing he had in front of him. The news could only get worse from here once he actually started looking into what would be useful for the cold season. Heaving a great sigh, Aang slowly started to pick up each article of clothing and organized them into piles.

The results were not comforting.

Most of the shirts were thrown in the closet because they were ripped and unusable. He picked up a tunic with a large slit in the front and remembered that this happened when a merchant slashed him across the stomach with a hidden knife. Aang had thought about sewing it up himself to salvage the shirt, but then he realized that the shirt was completely torn on the back as well. He nodded solemnly. That's right, he had almost forgotten: while that same man was chasing him, he kept grabbing at the back of his shirt and trying to tug him backwards, ripping it from the back as well. Aang rolled his eyes and flung the shirt in the corner of the room, making that his garbage pile.

His inventory was growing dangerously small. Many slacks and shirts would have to be given away to the smaller children because they were either too tight or too short. A small number were used as rags at one point and were bloodstained and completely unusable. Then, of course, Aang couldn't forget all of the clothing that was damaged in the process of slinking away with something valuable.

After twenty minutes of sifting through his belongings, Aang was left with very little.

Four short sleeved tunics, two slacks, a hat, and a thin sweater were all he had to show for at the moment.

Aang bit his lip. This was going to be a problem.

Winter was just around the corner. His bed had already been moved as far away from his window as possible. He had also placed a large piece of wood in front of the window to keep as much of the cold out as he could. Aang looked towards his blankets. At least he had more than enough quilts to keep him warm at night. Three or four layers of thick sheets should be fine enough for him. It might still be chilly, but at least he won't freeze. The only problem was his wardrobe.

As Aang began folding up the few clothes that were in good enough condition to be replaced in his closet, the door to his bedroom was pushed open and Jet came stumbling in, a large knapsack flung over his shoulder which was bulging with items.

The tan boy flung the bag onto the floor and unceremoniously collapsed onto the floor alongside it. He pulled off the drawstring and shook the bag empty, allowing a pile of his own clothes to drop on the ground as well.

Aang surveyed the pile warily. "So?" he asked.

Jet spilt the pile of clothes in half into two separate piles with his arm. He pushed one of them across the room to Aang's pile of ripped up clothing. "Those are all done for," Jet sighed. "That's what I get for acting like a hero, apparently."

Aang shrugged and waved off the comment. "Trust me, I had a lot of messed up ones too."

Jet started picking through the remaining pile and threw various pieces of clothing behind his shoulder. "These are for the little guys. They're too small," he commented as he flung shirts, sweaters, and pants into yet another pile behind him.

Jet looked miserably at the pitifully small collection of clothes that remained in front of him. "That leaves me with two hats, a sweater, three short sleeved shirts, and two pairs of pants."

Aang frowned and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Just as I thought: you're not doing any better than I am."

Both boys simultaneously cursed under their breath. Jet kicked away all the clothes into the corners of Aang's room in frustration and fell onto his back, completely annoyed with what the two of them had at their disposal. Aang, still sitting cross legged on the floor, leaned his elbows on his knees and started tugging at his hair, desperately trying to come up with some sort of solution.

"Dammit!" Jet shouted in anger. "It's freezing outside and we're dressed like it's summer. We're going to die out there from the cold at the rate we're going."

"Calm down," Aang said tiredly as he tried to pacify the situation. "There's no need to panic. We've still got time; we've just got to think, alright?"

Jet scowled and started flicking small dust bunnies across the wooden floor. "We've been so busy stocking up on food we forgot about clothes," Jet grumbled. "My lips were turning blue out there, Aang. It's got to be at most only a few degrees above freezing. I heard it's going to be a cold winter this year, and so far we've got nothing."

Aang scowled. He couldn't really say anything comforting because everything that Jet was saying was true. They could probably tough it out for the rest of this week. But after that it would be too cold for them to go outside with just a thin shirt and a sweater. They needed wool shirts, thick sweaters, hats, scarves, and gloves at the very least. New shoes and coats they could do without. The less they had to get their hands on, the better. But they couldn't deny themselves of the necessities, and right now, they were in dire need of the necessities.

"Do you know how many kids are crowding around those merchant tables right now?" Jet questioned. "They're all just waiting for one of their guards to slip long enough for them to slink away with some warm bread or even a pair of earmuffs. They're like a bunch of ravenous dogs out there."

Aang nodded in agreement. "Tell me about it. The merchants are all stocking up on swords and knives too."

Jet shook his head. "Sokka must be raking in a ton of cash right now."

"It's not just the knives and swords either," Aang pointed out. "You had to see the crowd of men that came in today. They all walked straight into the shop and asked for carts and booths to be built as soon as possible. This is the season for some serious money making, and they're not taking any chances."

"Unfortunately for us," Jet muttered darkly.

Aang fixed his gaze back towards the small collection of usable clothing that he and Jet had between the two of them. He started sifting through the pieces of clothing one more time and started speaking his thoughts aloud. "We could probably get away with one heavy sweater each. We could even snatch some hats and gloves while we're at it. Then we're going to just have to get more shirts and pants and layer up when it gets cold."

Jet clearly didn't like what he heard. Aang earned nothing but groans and curses from his friend on the floor. "We can't survive on just that."

"We can if we're smart about it," Aang corrected, putting away what little clothes he had left back into his closet. "We won't be toasty warm all the time, but at least we won't freeze to death."

Jet clicked his tongue at that comment and scowled. Frustration was slowly starting to creep onto his features and it was clear to Aang that this new course of events was not looking particularly ideal to his friend. He finally glared at Aang and took out his frustration. "Why are you being so cautious? We're big boys, Aang. I think we can handle snagging a couple of coats without being caught."

Aang shook his head at the comment and shut the thin wooden door to his closet. "You don't seem to get it, do you? Winter is the worst season for everyone. Even people who aren't living on the streets are going to try and snatch something. There's intense competition out there this time of year. I know that and you know that. We can't play hero this time alright? We need to just take what we absolutely need and get out."

"There's always intense competition!" Jet spat back. "That's how we live. It's who we are. This isn't anything new. Sure it's going to be a bitch trying to get the more expensive things that we need, but we can handle it."

Aang growled in the back of his throat. "They've got swords and knives, you dolt! They're not playing around anymore. If we mess up even a little bit, we're done for."

Jet raked his fingers through his hair in an attempt to see some reason in the situation. Aang sighed and sat in front of his friend who was still glaring at the worn out wood beneath him. He understood why the frustration was settling in on him so much. Aang felt it too and he couldn't deny the intense desire to go crazy and steal everything he could get his hands on. But something was holding him back, and he felt it wise to heed the feeling that was holding him back.

Aang's fingers unconsciously came up to his forearm and brushed against the puckered skin on his left arm. The boy winced slightly when his fingers made contact and the shiver that bolted through his entire arm made him sick to his stomach. He wrapped his hand around the scar in an attempt to stop the shooting pain through his body and the memories replaying over and over again in his head like a flip book that seemed endless. He felt the marks being made into his skin and the nails biting and pinching at his arm. He didn't look up at his friend and instead let his gaze fall on the cracked wood laid out beneath him.

The actions didn't go unnoticed by Jet as he looked up at Aang just as he began to speak again.

"Look," Aang explained quietly, "let's just be careful, alright? I'd rather be a little cold than to do anything stupid."

Jet didn't remove his gaze from the scar that had begun to bother Aang all of a sudden. The dark skinned boy didn't understand the meaning behind the action all of a sudden. It had nothing to do with the conversation. But then he looked up into the grey eyes of his friend and saw them clouded over as if he were lost in his mind, somewhere far away. The boy was holding his arm so tightly that his fist was trembling and the knuckles had long ago turned a sickly white. Then the connection clicked into place.

Jet immediately widened his eyes in realization. Guilt started to flood over him as he bowed his head slightly.

"Hey…um…I, uh….I didn't mean to, well, you know…" Jet didn't realize until now the insensitivity of his argument. He almost felt like ripping his voice out for saying something so stupid. The idea that he forgot something so important like this shocked him and caused sickening feelings of self hate start to overcome him. In an attempt to try and pacify the awkward tension he had created, Jet placed a gentle hand on Aang's shoulder and shook him slightly, trying to grab his attention once again.

Almost as if he had suddenly been pulled out of a deep daydream, Aang immediately dropped his hand and allowed it to lie limp in his lap. The color returned to his arm as the circulation in his appendages was restored and his eyes began to focus back onto the reality before him. He inhaled and shook his head lightly. "It's fine," he sighed. "Don't worry about it."

Jet was about to open his mouth and say something to pacify the awkward atmosphere that had so suddenly befallen them, but was caught by surprise when Aang suddenly leaned over him. Jet was about to back up in defense, but felt Aang reach over his head and fiddle around with something on his back. In a matter of seconds, Aang stepped back from his friend after successfully unsheathing the double hook swords on Jet's back. Aang gripped the handles tightly and tilted the blades sideways and stared at the silver blades glinting in the morning light pouring in through the window. He frowned and twisted them in his hands once more so that they were pointed upwards. The flat edges of the swords were facing Aang and the boy was able to see a distorted and dull version of his reflection. He turned the swords and looked at the side of the blade. He frowned.

"When was the last time you sharpened these?" Aang asked him. "They're so dull you can't even cut a piece of thread with these."

Jet furrowed his brows at the sudden change of topic, but didn't exactly discourage it either. He shrugged his shoulders and walked towards Aang who was still staring intently at the two blades.

Jet took the swords from him and examined them himself, staring at the dull edges of the sword. "I haven't had time to go to Sokka and have him sharpen them for me. I figured I didn't need to do it anytime soon anyway. Why do you ask?"

"I think you're going to want them sharpened," Aang told him with a smirk on his face.

Jet raised a brow at him and stared at his swords one more time. "Am I hallucinating or did Aang just suggest that I use my swords today to get clothes?"

Aang turned on his heel and dug through a pile of boxes that he kept in the corner of his room. He reached down and pulled out a long, hand-carved, wooden staff that was just as tall as he was. He had gotten it from his father shortly before he had learned how to properly use it. Much to the surprise of Jet, that long stick had managed to get him out of pretty tight situations. Aang thought it was a perfect fit for him. It was lightweight, it wouldn't seriously harm anyone, and it was easier to handle than a pair of big heavy swords. Aang stuck out his staff and pointed it at Jet's swords.

"You should get those sharpened today," Aang reminded him again. "You're going to need them."

Jet didn't react and simply continued to stare warily at Aang. "What just happened to your whole rant about being careful and not doing anything stupid?"

"This _is_ being careful and not doing anything stupid," Aang corrected him. "I never take this out unless I need it," Aang gestured to his staff. "You know that. If we're going to pull this off, we need to cover all stops. That means bringing means of protection along with us. But—"

"But we can't steal more than we need because that's putting us in more danger than is necessary, blah blah blah…I got it, alright?" Jet finished, sheathing his swords in the holder behind him. "But, hey, if you want to get violent, who the hell am I to stop you? I can't believe the day has finally come where you actually _want_ to go and get physical."

Aang sighed. "I'm not getting violent. I'm taking precautions. There's a difference."

"Look, people don't carry knives around with the intention of not using them," Jet explained. "This is the same concept."

Aang growled. "Look. Whatever. The point is that we need to be prepared and this is the best way to do it. We'll stop by at Sokka's to sharpen your swords, and then we'll figure out where we're going to go and steal something good. Okay?"

Jet shrugged. "Hey, whatever you say." He turned towards the door, hugged his feeble sweater closer to his body, and started making his way down the splintering, creaking stairs.

Aang allowed one final scowl to scrunch up his features before he resigned to his friend's insistence and descended down the stairs into the cold streets below.

Unfortunately, what Jet had said earlier about the frigid weather turned out to be more than accurate. The moment Aang stepped outside of the dilapidated structure he called home, he felt the cool air seep through the thin material of his feeble sweater and chill his skin. He grimaced at the uncomfortable sensation and blew hot air into his hands. He then started to rub them together, hoping that the friction would provide him with enough heat to keep him from getting distracted from what needed to be done.

Thoughts of public appearance and dignity dissolved for a moment as Jet and Aang walked towards their destination while standing as close to each other as possible. Their shoulders bumped together as they pulled their clothing closer and occasionally rubbed their arms to allow for more heat. At this point, they weren't too concerned with the fact that they were walking closer than what would have been deemed normal. But the two boys were so used to huddling together in the alleys as little kids to stay warm that actions like walking close together to keep each other warm were almost instinctual.

As the buildings started to look a little less ransacked and a little bit more civilized, bakeries and restaurants started opening up and brewing fresh morning tea for the rush of people hoping to eat out for breakfast. It seemed as if even the eateries were trying to catch the early worm this morning. Aang didn't blame them. With what was going on today, even the chefs had to be prepared today.

Twice a year, merchants from cities all over the country would visit the biggest cities around to try and sell their wares to customers. Because of the cold season, it was a great chance to sell warm food, fancy clothing, and bring in piles and piles of revenue. It was an intelligent business move on the merchants' parts. Cities like Ba Sing Se, Omashu, and Gaoling were among the most popular since they happened to be the largest. The beginning of the first winter month was generally when most people came crawling into the city and making it even more overcrowded than it already was.

"Look." Jet nudged Aang in the side and jutted his chin around the corner of the street they were walking down. Two large men were pulling a large cart filled with wooden crates and chests fastened with large locks. They were bundled up from head to toe with scarves and coats that probably kept them warmer than they needed to be. Through the folded fabrics, their sharp eyes began to glare at the two boys that probably looked like they were packing trouble.

"They're already eyeing us. It's like they're reading our minds or something," Jet muttered.

Aang returned the glare and caused the two men to huff out visible puffs of warm air from their mouths and turn their heads away. "Just don't keep your eyes off of them," Aang responded back. "They can't do anything if they can't sneak up on us."

The boys shrugged off the uncomfortable encounter and proceeded through the chilly city. After a fifteen minute walk, the two boys made their way towards a large, wooden, two story building situated on the corner of a busy block. Hanging above the doorway was a sign with the words "The Mechanist's Shop" painted on in black block letters with an "open" sign hung on a nail on the front door. The sounds of hammering and sawing could be heard from outside the shop, alerting passing patrons that the two owners were busy at work filling the numerous amounts of orders that were no doubt rushing in today.

No doubt the men Aang saw just came from picking up their orders.

Aang and Jet trudged up the steps of the workshop and knocked on the front door, causing the thin sign to rattle against the surface. The door opened almost immediately and a tall, blue eyed man who was about twenty years old pulled his coat closer around his body, hiding half of his form behind the wooden door so as to block out the wind blowing against him. His eyes focused on the two people on his doorstep and eyes immediately shined in recognition.

"Hey, you two!" the blue eyed male replied, smiling from behind the door. "Haven't seen you guys in a while. Did you need something?"

Jet nodded and quickly pulled out his swords, holding them out for the boy in the doorway. "Hey, Sokka. I figured you'd be good at things like this. You mind helping me out?"

Sokka blew into his hands as he stepped outside onto the steps. Leather-gloved hands grabbed the swords and the man stared hard at the guards, the hilts, and the blades that curved sharply towards the ends. He frowned as he continued to inspect the weapons.

"What exactly did you have in mind?" the boy asked skeptically.

Jet shrugged and shivered slightly from the cold. "I kind of just needed the blades sharpened," he replied simply. "Why, what's the matter?"

Sokka sighed and handed the valuable weapons back to Jet. "It's not just the blades. The guard and the hilt are looking pretty dull too. Not to mention the leather on the handle is peeling off."

Jet scowled and looked at the swords again. Feeling defensive, he spoke up. "Aw, come on, Sokka. They're not that bad."

Sokka shook his head and leaned against the door frame. "They're a mess. What have you been doing to them?"

Aang decided to intervene on the conversation. "It's called over enthusiasm," he said shortly. "But, unfortunately, there's nothing anyone can do about that." Jet growled at his friend, but said nothing. There was no use in arguing the fact since it happened to be all too true. "Can you fix them?" Aang asked.

Sokka nodded and gestured for Jet to hand the swords back. "Sure. I've just got to sharpen everything, and I'll see if I can find you a better handle. Shouldn't take too long," he promised.

"You're not busy are you?" Aang asked.

"Nah. The Mechanist is dealing with all of the other customers and I just finished talking with my last one. I can spare a few minutes for you guys." He gestured the two of them inside the shop and out of the cold.

Aang and Jet quickly stepped inside and immediately felt a rush of heat. On the far side of the wall, a stone fireplace had a bright fire roaring in the corner along with a few tables and chairs that served as a makeshift waiting room for customers. A few people were already occupying the chairs, waiting impatiently for their turns into the workshop. The same glares that the boys had received before were sent their way again, and it didn't take much for the two boys to realize what kind of people these customers were.

Sokka stepped behind them and fastened the latch on the door. He waved his hand and gestured for the two of them to follow him into the back of the shop. The three of them made their way through the long hallway and passed by the workshop situated on the ground floor.

Sokka brought a finger to his lips and gestured for the boys to be quiet. Aang looked around the corner and saw an old man with a long, brown beard talking with a short, stocky man in the workshop. Aang immediately recognized the bearded man as the Mechanist, the owner of the workshop and the one who usually dealt with many of the customers that walked inside. He was currently leaned over a large workbench with a large sketch of the customer's order laid out for the two of them to examine. On the walls of the workshop were woodcutting tools, hammers, spare pieces of wood, and metal latches and locks for any trunks or doors that needed to be fashioned. As they walked through to the back of the building, Aang managed to catch a bit of the conversation.

"I understand the severity of the situation," The Mechanist began, "but I'm afraid I can't get a cart and a booth built by this afternoon. That's far too short notice."

"Don't try to reassure me when it's clear that you _don't_ understand. So allow me to reiterate," the short man insisted. "I have an overhaul of precious jewelry coming in today. I have to make a living and sell a certain amount of merchandise today. I need this completed _today. _Surely a man who lives off of the money he earns by running his own business would comprehend this."

The Mechanist scratched the back of his head nervously. "I do, but please understand that things like this take time…"

The short man growled and rummaged through the folds of his cloak. He pulled out a bulging, drawstring bag that fit into the palm of his hand. He pulled open the bag and dumped the contents on the table. A few dozen gold coins clattered onto the table top and the Mechanist's eyes were immediately fixated on the sight.

The man smirked. "I think this should be enough of an incentive to have my cart and booth finished in four hours, don't you think?"

Aang just saw the Mechanist nod enthusiastically before Sokka began to lead them upstairs to his own workshop. It was a similar layout to the one downstairs, except this one was a bit smaller and there were a variety of swords, knives, and other sharp weapons littering the walls. Some tables, chairs, carts, and doors were propped up in the corner of the workshop half finished and in various pieces. Tickets with orders scrawled on them were piled up on a small table in the corner where Sokka kept his tools.

He walked over to a separate bench on the far left of the room where he had a sharpening stone already set up. He tapped the table top, gesturing for Jet to set the swords down.

Jet complied, carefully laying the valuable swords on the table top.

"Listen," Jet began. "You're going to need to give us a while before we can pay you back. We're a little tight on money and merchandise if you know what I mean."

Sokka held up a hand. "Nah, don't sweat it. Think of it as a favor from me to you."

Aang found a stool and dragged it over to the workbench and watched as Sokka lubricated the sharpening stone with some water. He balanced his staff on his knee and watched Sokka work.

"How many people have come in today?" Aang asked.

Sokka shrugged and picked up one of the swords. He began moving the blades smoothly over the sharpening stone and spoke over the sound of metal scraping against smooth rock. "At least fifteen and it's only the morning. It's the start of the season, so it's not like I expected anything different. But I've got about seven tickets I've got to finish before the afternoon." Sokka jutted his chin out towards the pile of tickets that Aang had noticed earlier.

"So, dare I ask, what do you need the swords for?" Sokka asked.

"We're running low on practically everything," Jet frowned. "Since so many people are coming into the city to sell today, we figured it'd be a good day to haul in a huge load."

Sokka raised an eyebrow at Jet. "You're going to go steal in the market today of all days? Are you _trying_ to get yourselves killed?"

"No," Jet stated. "And that's why I need those things to defend myself. It's a sure fire plan, and we're going to be fine."

Sokka flipped the sword over and began sharpening the other side. "Don't get too cocky, alright? Do you see the top row of swords over there?"

Aang looked up at the wall with all of the weapons mounted on top. The small knives were mounted with nails towards the bottom and the larger swords were balanced on pegs near the top. On the highest part of the wall, there was a long row of pegs hammered into the wall, but nothing else.

"There are no swords on top," Aang replied.

"Exactly," Sokka sighed heavily. "Those were all sold today."

Jet whistled under his breath. "Damn. All of that?"

Sokka nodded solemnly and turned the sword over and began to sharpen the hilt of the hook sword. "Yeah, and that's not even counting the other swords I keep in the back. These merchants aren't playing around. I just came back from Katara's place and it isn't looking too good."

Aang's head popped at the mention of Katara. His heart started to drop as fear started to bubble inside him. "Why? Did someone get hurt?"

Sokka twisted his lips into a mixture of a scowl and a grimace. He kept passing the sword over the stone as he tried to figure out how to word his next statement. "There was a twelve year old kid in there when I walked inside."

Aang leaned forward in his seat. "So? What was wrong with him?"

"He was trying to swipe some bread, but he didn't think that the merchant had a knife on him." Sokka held up his pointer finger and wiggled it around. "Lost a finger, the poor kid."

Jet's eyes widened. "Can she handle that?"

Sokka shook his head and picked up the other sword to begin working on it as well. "Of course not. She had to send him to the doctor in middle of the city before he bled out. She wound up having to pay for the kid's treatment because she didn't know how to deal with something that serious."

Aang hung his head and bit his lip in worry. "That's terrible."

"It could be worse," Sokka muttered darkly. "It could have been his entire hand."

A shiver simultaneously ran through the spines of all three males in the room.

"So what are you suggesting?" Jet growled. "We sit back, twiddle our thumbs, and do nothing so that we won't get hurt?"

Sokka turned around from his workbench and put down what he was working on. A frustrated sigh fell from his lips as he tried to explain. "I'm not saying to sit back and do nothing. I'm just saying to be smart. Can't you wait until they all leave?"

But the dark haired boy pursed his lips together and crossed his arms. Aang could tell that he was trying not to start screaming. Sokka was their friend and he was only looking out for them. But it looked like the older male didn't understand the severity of the situation.

Aang intervened again to try and bring order back to the conversation. "We already ran through the risks. But really, what could go wrong? We've been doing this for years. It can't possibly be as bad as you make it sound."

The weight of the boy's words was heavy in Sokka's mind and the older male started to have trouble comprehending what he was hearing. Though he realized that his opinion was having no influence on either of them at the moment, he didn't realize that they could act so dense. "I can't believe you of all people just said that."

"Look, I understand that you're trying to keep us safe," Aang bit out carefully, trying not to throw out the insults that were slowly brewing in his mind. "But we're not children anymore."

Sokka growled. "It's not a matter of whether you both are children or not. It's a matter of valuing your lives. Right now, you're both acting like idiots."

The insults caused Aang to flinch. He ignored the urge to allow his friend's words to be taken seriously and to heart and instead opened his mouth again to retaliate. "No, acting like an idiot would be going out there with some half-baked plan and expecting to scrape out of there with no harm done." Aang thrust out his staff for emphasis. "We're prepared. We're going to protect ourselves and we're going to be fine. Do you really think that we're going to be in that much trouble out there?"

The blue eyed man didn't respond at first, choosing instead to allow the pale boy to calm his breathing and allow the hateful glint in his eyes to slowly disappear. Sokka didn't allow his frustration or anger to show. He kept a stoic face and stared blankly at the boy in front of him. Aang noticed the silence and at the same time noticed his hunched posture and his shoulders were raised in anger. He straightened his spine and rolled his shoulders back.

Sokka spoke, keeping his poker face intact. "You're asking me if I think you're going to get into trouble? On a day like this?"

Aang didn't know how to respond, so he didn't do anything. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Jet still standing far away from the conversation, but still looking at Sokka curiously as he was probably just as confused about the question the older male offered. Aang wanted to turn on his heel and leave, saying that they didn't need any more of the criticism that was being stuffed down their throats. At the very least, he wanted the conversation to end. It didn't seem as if the three of them were on good terms at the moment, and the look Sokka was giving him was keeping him rooted on the spot in worry.

The metal swords lay forgotten on the workbench as the blue eyed man stood up from his seat. He bounded over to Aang and grabbed his arm and held it up for everyone to see. He roughly turned his arm so that the scar on his arm was visible. Aang winced slightly from the angle his arm was forced into, but as soon as he looked into Sokka's eyes, he started to understand the point the older man was trying to make.

"Do you remember this?" Sokka bit out.

The sudden movement caught the young male by surprise and stunned him into a momentary silence. But then Aang realized where Sokka's gaze was falling. Then, a new level of understanding washed over him all at once.

Aang averted his eyes and stared down at the floor. His eyes darkened and turned his head away from Sokka so that his face was turned towards the wall. He felt the familiar aching sensation start to build up in the back of this throat and tried to swallow it down, but to no avail. Jet immediately saw Aang's reaction and tried to reach him, but Sokka kept the younger male rooted into place with a stern stare that was sent his way. Aang stood silent as Sokka waited for a response.

"Do you—"

"Yes I remember!" Aang shouted. His voice came out cracked and hoarse, but it still resonated loudly throughout the room. "How could I not?"

"Then you know what I mean when I say that this is stupid, right?" Sokka scolded right back. "You guys have stayed home this time of year ever since _that_ happened. Why are you starting this up again now?"

"Because we've got no food, clothes, or money. What else do you want us to do, make it magically appear out of thin air?" The boy took in a ragged breath and tried to slow down his pumping heart. He wrenched his arm out of the older man's grasp and cradled it in his own. The same glazed over look that overcame him back at their house was present again and silence overcame the workshop.

Guilt started to wash over the oldest male as he saw Aang start to replay his memories. He opened his mouth to try and form an apology, but the words got too tangled to be formed into coherent sentences. He turned his head towards Jet to ask for help, but the younger boy shook his head. There wasn't anything that Jet could say to fix anything, and he didn't want to get involved either. The last thing they needed was to have Jet add to the issue and make it worse.

Sokka frowned and looked at Aang. "Look…I know that you need to do what you need to do to survive, but—Spirits, Aang…you were only seven when…"

"I know," Aang muttered quickly, coming back to the present and turning his grey eyes toward Sokka. "I know perfectly well, alright? Trust me I didn't want to have to do this, but this is the best plan I've got."

Sokka looked quickly between Jet and Aang and could find no words to dissuade the pair. After all, even if they promised him here and now that they wouldn't go out and that they would go straight home, the chances of them actually listening to him were quite thin.

"We'll be on our toes and watch our back every chance we get," Aang promised quietly. "But we've got to go."

Sokka sighed. He had been in their shoes before, struggling through the streets to try and get some spare money for him and his baby sister. It was hard work when they were younger, but he recently got them to a point where they were financially comfortable. Perhaps it was a combination of the Mechanist's kindness for giving Sokka a job or his resilience to do the dirty work that no one in the city wanted to do just to get some extra cash. No matter what the reason, Sokka didn't get here by playing it safe, and he realized that asking the boys in front of him to just that was useless.

But Sokka had been eleven at the time the accident with Aang happened. He never forgot the state that the grey-eyed boy was in and it was an image that was forever plastered into his memory. Yes, he was being protective. But that was only because the last thing he needed was another gruesome accident to befall one of the boys again.

Aang never did quite get over it the first time despite it happening ten years ago. Truthfully, Sokka couldn't blame him in the least.

Despite the worry that started welling up in his heart, Sokka nodded his head and dropped the subject immediately. Not only would the Mechanist get upset over all of the shouting, but the thick tension that had all of a sudden infected the air around them was starting to become suffocating and uncomfortable. The oldest male sat himself at his workbench once again and picked up the neglected swords. He began to strip the leather strips off of the handle and turned his head slightly towards the other boys to ask a question.

"So Jet, what kind of handles do you want?"

**OOO**

Despite the tense conversation the three had shared before, two younger boys left the house with smiles and yelling thank you's over their shoulders. Sokka gave them each a pat on the back and told them that if they ever needed anything, they were welcome at his house. He and Katara would be more than happy to take care of them if they really found themselves in a rut and needed a few days to pick themselves up back on their feet. It was with those warm sentiments that the two boys started making their way towards the crowded market place, armed, determined, and raring to get started.

"So, what's the plan, big shot?" Jet muttered to his friend, making sure that his voice didn't carry around towards anyone. It was like they were stalking around enemy territory and performing some dangerous infiltration with eyes on them at all times.

Aang leaned his head in closer and whispered quietly, also making sure that his lips moved as little as possible. "You've got two bags, right?"

Jet patted his shoulder. "Yup. They're both there."

Aang nodded and continued. "You've got two and I've got two. That means we could probably take enough for ourselves and then some, so that's good." Aang looked to the right into a short alleyway that forked at the end.

"Do you know that abandoned workshop near the park?" Aang asked.

Jet looked down the alleyway as well and nodded slowly. "Yeah, I think so. This is the shortcut, isn't it?"

"Yup," Aang assented. "If we're really good, we can snitch things without being seen. But if you're chased, just go to that house. It's our new safe house, alright?"

Jet raised a brow and turned his head back towards Aang. "What happened to the old house that we were using before?"

Aang shrugged. "It got invaded by stray dogs and I am not about to go in there to kick them out."

"…dude. They're _dogs_."

The grey eye boy scowled. "Look, that's not the damn point," he hissed out. "Don't worry about looking back for me or waiting for me to catch up to you. Just run. I'll more than likely be right behind you. If not, wait an hour. If I'm not back by then, go back and look for me."

Jet shook his head and frowned. "But if you're hurt, and hour is too long a wait to go back and help you out if you need it."

Aang turned left so that they began walking towards the edge of the market place where the stores and booths started. "I'm not going to get hurt today," he promised. "I'll be careful, and you will be too. So it's fine."

The subject was dropped with a sigh from Jet. He made sure that the bag he was carrying on his shoulder was covering his swords and kept them out of sight from prying eyes. "So what's on the agenda?"

Aang turned his head around him and thought hard. It was always better to start from one end of the market and move towards the other without backtracking. After all, people paid attention to those around them. It would look pretty suspicious if people saw their bags being filled even though they had pulled nothing out of their pockets in order to buy anything. They were standing at the start of all of the chaos. All that was left to do was to plan out their war path.

"How about some breakfast, first?" Aang offered.

Jet nodded at the idea. "Sounds fine to me. What are you hungry for?"

Eyes scanned the area for a decent establishment that sold food. Aang fixed his attention on a counter filled with exotic fruits that looked as if they cost a fortune. Aang peered up at the sign above the food. Yes, he thought so. Two whole gold pieces just for a small basket of the stuff. It was entirely overpriced, which would explain why there was only one other person there inspecting the wares.

However, Aang couldn't deny that they looked absolutely delicious.

"How about some foreign, rich-people fruit?" Aang smirked, pointing over to the large, colorful display in front of them.

Jet's eyes shined in anticipation as he beheld the sight. He couldn't help but laugh quietly. "You've always had a good eye for good food. So how do you want this to be done?"

Aang shrugged. "I don't know. Why don't you distract him this time and I'll take."

Jet was already walking toward the booth, nodding in agreement and the plan and making his way over to the clerk standing behind the counter.

This one looked like he came straight from the Ba Sing Se capital. His winter robes were made out of bright green velvet and the hat he was wearing was embroidered in gold thread with designs that looked like they could only be accomplished by a professional. He had rings on every finger made out of every type of metal imaginable and adorned with every type of jewel that was able to be mined and cut. Jet was rather impressed. Not because of the quality of the man's wardrobe, but at the man's ability to wear all of those things without falling to the floor due to the weight. The man looked so scrawny that it seemed as though those clothes should have been enough to keep him weighed down to the ground. Better yet, a particularly strong wind would probably blow him away.

Jet chuckled. Another reason why this booth was perfect. There was no way he would be able to chase after them, let alone swing a knife hard enough to do any serious damage. Sometimes, Jet couldn't deny the fact that Aang was a genius.

The skinny man behind the counter was tending to a female customer who slung the handle of the small basket of fruit over her arm so that it hung from her forearm and swung back and forth as she moved. She was digging through the pockets of her coat for the coins that were jingling around in her pocket. She pressed two gold coins into the man's hands and thanked him for the basket of fruits. As she waved him goodbye with a smile, she turned around and immediately allowed her lips to twist into an annoyed frown. Jet heard her mutter some choice words about the "skinny bastard" and his "expensive crap" before he made his way to the counter himself.

The man was putting away the coins in a wooden chest that he kept in the back, fiddling with the metal padlock. Jet turned his head to the left just enough to not look suspicious. Aang was keeping back behind the crowd of people and trying to look as if he was just glancing at the tables around him, pondering what he wanted to buy. He made brief eye contact with Jet and nodded his head. Jet nodded back and turned his attention back to the task at hand.

By now, the man had locked the chest of money and placed the key deep into the folds of his robes. He turned his beady eyes towards his next customer and showed off a fake smile. "Why hello there young man," the clerk said in a raspy, thin voice. "What can I do for you today?"

Jet tilted his head and started to look around the display, running his fingers over some of the fruits. "I'm not really that well versed on the different types of fruits," he said conversationally, picking up a round, bright pink and green fruit. "I was just wondering…what kind of fruit is this?"

It seemed as if this was something that the clerk was rather enthusiastic about. Acting like some experienced and realized collector, the man picked up the fruit in question, cleared his throat, and started to recite to Jet a rather detailed biography.

"Well, it's a good thing that you asked. This is a Red Pitaya fruit. But more specifically, it is a Hylocereus Pitaya, also known as the Dragon Fruit." He took this moment to take out a pocket knife and cut open the fruit in front of Jet. "It's mostly known for the white inside and the black seeds. Believe it or not, it's a cactus fruit and is just one of many varieties. It is rather sweet and quite delicious if I do say so myself. Nobles use this to 'clean their palates' in between courses and they're pretty popular in the capital. In fact…"

At the mention of nobles, Jet drowned out what the man was saying. He tried to remain interested, nodding his head, saying "ah" and "mmhm" when necessary, but he was desperately trying to think of how on Earth someone could talk about a single piece of fruit for so long. Jet let his eyes dart up a fraction of the way to look up at his friend who was quickly stuffing as much food as he could into his bag. Jet didn't let the smile that he wanted to express show on his face. Instead, he nodded as the merchant continued his explanation.

While the man prattled on about his display, Jet took the opportunity to scope out the rest of the market. There was mostly food on this end of the market with the exception of jewelry stands and knickknack stands that thought they could get more business near the edges of the market. There were a multitude of people coming in and out of the avenue covered in booths and carts and Jet found himself hard pressed to look past all of the people clothed in coats, scarves, and gloves.

Baked goods were being sold ahead of him, and in the distance he could see people carrying around large vases, jars, and other forms of pottery that were probably meant to be used for decoration. It was at that moment that two young girls were running through the crowd carrying two loaves of bread and making their way towards the edge of the market to try and run home. Jet smirked at the sight and continued looking ahead of him. If he squinted hard enough, he could make out the customers holding up shirts and coats in front of their bodies to try them on. After this, the two of them could head down in that direction and see what else they could grab.

"…really quite interesting. In fact, if cactus fruits really grab your interest, I have another one in the back I could show you…"

Nod. Look interested. Make a noise that sounds like you're agreeing with him…

…wait. The _back_?

Jet's eyes widened as he reached out for the man's robes. He grabbed a fistful of velvet and caused the man to turn towards him before he managed to turn around and catch Aang in the act of stealing much of his merchandise. Unfortunately, Jet forgot that the man resembled a twig and was very light, so tugging the man over turned into pulling the man half over the counter and having their faces less than a foot apart. Jet was holding his breath, completely unsure of what he was supposed to do as a distraction what with the man right in his face. The clerk looked equally uncomfortable, his beady eyes opened as wide as they could go and his breath coming out rather labored due to the rough treatment.

Jet hesitated. "…umm…" His eyes darted about. _Quick, look. There's got to be something here to talk about. _

A particularly bright ring on the man's hands caught Jet's eye at that moment, and the young boy figured that it was enough of a distraction to work. Jet reached down for the man's hand and picked it up so that it was right in his face. Jet looked closely at the ruby ring on the clerk's index finger and did his best to gush as much as he could over it.

"Where did you get this ring?" he asked, faking copious amounts of enthusiasm. "I couldn't help but notice it looks _amazing_ on you. Where did you get it?"

The boy cringed at how girly this conversation was sounding and was afraid that this man was going to get the wrong idea, especially now that the clerk was giving Jet a quizzical stare like he was crazy. A few tense seconds passed before the clerk smiled widely. He turned his hand this way and that to allow the sun to catch on the red gem in the middle of the ring. "Oh, do you really like it? I thought it looked a bit flashy, but I'm flattered that you enjoy it so much."

Jet didn't even bother to hide his stare towards the back of the booth. Aang was already tying up the bag and slinging it back over his shoulder. Aang gave Jet a thumbs-up and darted to the right deeper into the market, keeping his back to the walls of the buildings around him. Jet let out a sigh and looked back down at the man who was still exaggerating about how expensive and fancy and absolutely stunning the ring was. Clearly, he was more thankful about the fake compliment than he should have been.

The awkward part about being the distraction was the exit towards the end. But Jet didn't seem to put much effort in rolling his eyes and walking away in the other direction, leaving the man to gush about his jewelry with stars in his eyes. It was a shame. He liked to think that merchants were rather smart when they wanted to be. That was why it was considered such an art form to out run and trick the lot and get away with stealing whatever you wanted. It's amateurs like that who are a disgrace to the sport and make people like Jet and Aang look bad. Honestly, a three year old little girl could steal from that man and not even think about getting caught. Well, he supposed it didn't mean much. They got breakfast after all, and that's all that mattered.

Jet found a pile of crates that were stacked up on top of each other along the side of the building, swearing that he saw Aang run over here somewhere. He looked up and saw a foot hanging over the edge of the roof and swinging back and forth. Jet shook his head. Leave it to Aang to find a high place to go eat breakfast. Sighing and stretching his arms, Jet climbed up the tall crates until he was able to poke his head up and look on top of the roof. Sure enough, there was Aang munching on a piece of fruit from his bag and staring out at the busy crowd of people around him.

Jet walked over and grabbed a fruit from inside the bag. "That was almost too easy. If this is all these people have to offer, I think Sokka made a big deal about this for nothing."

The other boy shook his head as he chewed thoughtfully on a piece of fruit. "I guess the new guys stick towards the ends of the market place. I mean come on. How thick can you get?"

The question was answered with a shrug and a loud laugh. "I don't know. But let me tell you, that guy has a long way to go."

Aang laughed, his mouth still full before he started darting his eyes over the crowd. "Where do you want to go next?"

Jet pointed several booths ahead of the one they were currently sitting over and swallowed what he was chewing. "I saw a lot of booths over there with clothes on display. We could check there next."

Aang leaned forward and strained to see into the distance through the throngs of people bustling about and slowly filling the market place. The boy took another bite out of the fruit he was eating and nodded. "Sounds good to me," he said simply.

The two lapsed into silence as they began eating whatever Aang managed to grab. Though it was more fruit then they had eaten in a while, it was neither the time nor the place to indulge and enjoy it. The two of them had to scarf down whatever they had as quickly as they could so that they could still manage to get the clothes that they needed. The weather began to warm up a bit now that the sun was rising high in the sky and casting a warm glow on the buildings around them. Because they were on the roof, the heat was shining directly on the boys and allowing them to bask in the warmth as much as they could.

Aang allowed his eyes to wander around the market place, not looking at anything in particular and enjoying the food that he had successfully obtained. He knew that this was the only real break he was going to get today, now that he thought about it. He'd probably be running around all day today looking like a thief scrounging around for what he could find and possibly dodging some weapons in the process.

Despite the fight he put up in Sokka's house, coming out into the bitter cold like this was not something that he was eager to do. It was a plan that he and Jet had worked out for over a week once the first signs of winter starting appearing. At first, Jet was completely against it. What with what had happened to Aang in the past on this day in particular, it didn't seem like the most brilliant plan they could come up with. Surely it was better to decide on something else, or maybe they could've gone when the market wouldn't be so packed and busy. But this was all they had available at the moment, and they couldn't afford the wasted opportunity no matter what.

Aang looked to the left of him and saw Jet laughing at the sight of a couple of kids beating up a merchant in the distance for some blankets. Aang smiled slightly. He wondered if Jet was as worried as he was. The boy had a habit of hiding his emotions well and going through with plans that were less than sane. Today at Aang's house, there was tension regarding the issue and there was an even bigger fall out at the Mechanist's Workshop. Aang didn't expect the opposition and he didn't think that the issue of today would bother him to this degree. It was akin to going out on any other day and doing the same exact thing. It shouldn't have been a surprise to anyone and it definitely shouldn't have had such a big effect on him.

Aang's scar began to throb. He wondered if it had anything to do with his father. After all, when thoughts of Aang's scar surfaced, Aang's father came up as well. It was only natural. The two were connected, just like they were also connected to this day. The boy sighed. He couldn't help but wonder if this is why the whole ordeal was bothering him so much. This day always frustrated him whether he was outside stealing or not. It was probably due to those memoires that he was so bothered and distracted. Yes, that had to be it.

Breakfast was finished with Jet enjoying watching the people below and Aang brooding in his memories. Aang wondered if Jet realized what he was thinking about the whole time they were eating. If he did, Jet did a wonderful job of not showing whether or not he did. Aang shook his head and slung the now empty bag back over his shoulder. It was too late to change his mind about it now. He would just have to be careful. Very, very careful. He would be fine. It would all be fine.

The boys decided that traveling via the rooftops would be faster and easier to get where they were going. It would also be better to see the booths from up high rather than trying to peek around bodies in order to get a good look at something. The buildings and shops in this part of the city were built very close together, so it didn't require much effort to jump from building to building. Most of the time, the two of them could get away with stepping over gaps. They traveled quickly to the epicenter of all of the chaos.

Already, Aang could see a little kid being held up by his collar by a clerk. The kid had dropped a bag of nuts on the floor in front of him and was looking really scared. The man pulled out his sword and threatened to use it on the little boy should he try to steal again. This was enough of an incentive to cause the kid to run away with his tail between his legs. Though, Aang was sure he would try to be smarter and sneakier somewhere else.

The booths looked busy and the merchants were on high alert. It was like the skinny fruit seller was part of the preliminary round of this game they called thievery. Aang and Jet seemed to have made their way to the Olympics. To his displeasure, Aang actually recognized a few of them. There was the man that he had stolen that delicious bread from all those weeks ago. The only difference was that he looked a lot fatter if that was even possible. Aang reached behind him for the staff that was strapped to his back. The carved, wooden surface gave him comfort as he continued on across the roof tops.

Making their way through the middle of the avenue, Aang was about to point Jet in the direction of a good booth selling sweaters several buildings away. That is until he heard a familiar voice.

"What do you mean fifteen silver pieces? You lying scum! I'm not paying!"

Aang froze. Jet didn't seem to react to the voice, so he kept walking. But Aang panicked and grabbed the back of his shirt, causing Jet to stumble backwards onto his back.

The boy winced in pain as he collided with the ground. He groaned in displeasure as he shot Aang a dirty look. "What the hell was that for?"

Aang turned the boy's head down below into the busy market place. "Look! Look! Look who it is!"

Jet rolled his eyes and looked back towards Aang. "Yeah, I know. It's that fat freak you stole from a couple of weeks ago, but that's no reason to—"

"No, not him!" Aang practically shouted, growing more frustrated and confused by the minute. "Over there, by the jewelry display."

Jet looked in the direction Aang was pointing and saw a short young girl standing there arguing with the clerk. Her black hair was secured in a sloppy bun and her green eyes were fixed into a glare that was directed to the man behind the counter she was standing in front of. At first Jet didn't realize what the big deal was and was about to push Aang off of him so that he could keep on going, but then Jet sifted through his brain for the correct association and nodded.

"Oh yeah," he said. "It's that chick from Katara's place…what was her name…oh, Toph wasn't it? What about her?"

"What do you _mean_ what about her?" Aang panicked. "It's her! _Again!_ Don't you see?"

Jet scowled. "No, I don't," he deadpanned.

Aang grabbed at his hair in frustration. Of course he didn't see. Jet didn't know that the girl he met at Katara's house and the noble Aang had been obsessing over were the same person. Aang growled in frustration. This would make it the third time that they happened to run into each other in the span of a little over a month.

This was ridiculous. It was like a situation out of a terrible love novel. The two fated lovers in the story who kept bumping into each other until they finally realized their feelings for the other. Except the two of them weren't in love or destined to be in love for that matter. They hated each other. Even though one tiny voice in the back of Aang's mind—the voice who still insisted that this girl was absolutely _beautiful_—silently wondered whether all of these accidental meetings were because they _were_ destined to be together, he promptly ignored it. This was sickening.

Jet rolled his eyes and tried to pull Aang along. "Come on, dude. We're wasting time. You're starting to act like me and that's scary. Here you are rushing me and now you're stopping to drool over a girl."

Aang snapped his head to the side and had a light stain of blush across his cheeks. "I am not!"

"Well then if you're not drooling over her, there's no reason to stay here anymore. It's freakin' cold and I want to hurry up and go home. Let's _go!"_

But Aang wasn't moving. He was still too fixated on the situation—whether it was due to fascination, horror, or both he wasn't sure—to even think about moving from the spot he was in. All he could think was how. How on Earth did this happen for a third time? The chances were far too impossible. Aside from the fact that this is the second time he's seen this noble girl disguised and in the town among normal people, he didn't understand why she seemed to frequent the same areas that he did. What was this, some kind of sick joke? Why was this even happening? And an even more pressing question was why was he still staring at her?

Aang started to get over the shock of the situation when he heard Toph yell again, this time even louder.

"Don't give me that crap alright?" she screamed. "You told me ten silver pieces. Don't start changing your mind on me now, you asshole!"

Wow. For a sheltered noble girl, she knew how to curse.

"Listen, ya lil' girl," the man said in a baritone voice. "I told ya that everythin' in front was ten silver pieces. I didn' say nothin' about what was in the back there."

Toph slammed her fists on the counter. "You're a liar! Your freakin' sign says 'everything for ten silver pieces.' Don't start changing your story just so can push more money out of me."

The man glared. "Look, ya wanted quality jewelry. If that's what ya came here fer, they that's what ya gotta pay."

Toph snorted. "Oh, please. Quality jewelry my ass. All of these stones here are fake as hell. Nothing here is legitimate. I mean, look at this! The diamonds are starting to turn blue! It's like you got them from some cheap children's store. Now here I go asking for the only real looking bracelet in this entire display, I pay you what I'm supposed to, and you're going to raise the price?"

The insults and the screaming were starting to get to the man, Aang could tell. Even Jet stopped pestering Aang to get a move on and stopped to watch the show. It was hard not to. Everyone was turning their heads toward the mayhem unfolding in front of them. What was even worse was the sight that was before them. A large man fighting with a short and tiny woman. Though the girl seemed to holding her own as far as the verbal fighting was concerned, everyone feared what would happen if the predicament wasn't ironed out quickly.

"Look here ya lil' brat!" the man shouted. "I already gave ya my price. Either ya pay up or I'm takin' that damn bracelet back. Ya hear me?"

But Toph shook her head and pointed to the bracelet that was still on the table. "No. I paid you what I'm supposed to pay you and that's that. Now either you give it to me, or you're going to regret it."

Jet whistled at the scene. "Damn, she's got some guts to stand up to that guy."

Aang shook his head and started to worry. "She's an idiot! She doesn't realize that this guy is going to pummel her into the ground." It didn't matter much that she was a girl or not. If she didn't shut her mouth this guy was going to seriously hurt her.

"What, are you saying we go down there and get involved? That's just going to create a bigger mess," Jet reasoned.

But Aang was growing wary and desperate. "Well we can't just leave her down there like that."

The boys snapped their attention back to the booth when they heard a loud crash. Struggled cries were also heard and the audience that the two had created collectively gasped. The man had managed to slam Toph's wrist to the table in a death grasp and was pinning her to the table. Toph was visibly trying to shake free from the grasp of the man, but he was growling at her as he held her there so that she couldn't run away.

"Look, I don' like kids tellin' me what ta do," the man growled. "You better shut yer mouth!"

Toph bared her teeth and pushed against the man's hand, desperately trying to free herself. "Let go of me! Dammit, let me go!"

"I saw ya trying to swipe the bracelet and run fer it!" he yelled. "Don' think I'm stupid!"

Toph was wincing from the grasp the man had on her wrist. The audience around her was holding their breaths, but made no move to try and help. There was nothing anyone could try and do against a large strong man like that. No one had the nerve, and there was no way to save the girl from what was probably going to happen.

"Let go," she repeated. "Just…let go!"

The man kept the girl's hands pinned on the table and reached behind the counter. "Do ya know what happens to people who try an' steal from me?"

Some women in the crowd started covering their eyes. A few ran away from the sight so that they wouldn't get in trouble. But most stayed silent and didn't do a thing. The man started shifting around behind the counter while Toph was losing circulation to her wrist. She tried to punch and scratch at the man's hands, but he wasn't letting go. He was too strong and too large to do anything against him. It was then that out from behind the counter, he pulled out a short sword.

Toph's eyes widened and her struggling increased. "No, come on! Let me go! I'm sorry!"

"They get their hands chopped off!" he shouted.

Aang's heart stopped when he saw the man lift the sword high over his head and prepare to slam it down on Toph's wrist.


	6. Civil

_**A/N: **It looks like there was some communication problems between my editor and I. I didn't want to be a bother and place more stress on them by badgering them, but at the same time I didn't want to keep you waiting when the chapter was already done. So this is going up a lot later than I wanted. Sorry about that. However, this one should interest you all, I think, and it's a tad longer than usual. So I hope you enjoy it. _

_One more thing: for those of you who have read my other one shot _Roommates,_ I am going to continue it. But I'm not sure how I'm going to do this yet. So there's a poll on my profile that I would appreciate you all looking at and answering for me. Thank you!_

**OOO**

**Chapter 6**

**Civil**

**OOO**

By the looks of things, Aang had about four seconds to do something drastic.

His eyes darted about quickly, trying to find something of use that could work towards hopefully causing a distraction. At least that way, it would give him time to run over and pull that man away from Toph. Aang spotted a large display of porcelain urns, vases, and pots that were piled up high on top of wooden boxes outside of the antique shop he was standing on top of. If he reached his foot down far enough, he could get in a good kick.

Aang dropped down on his knees and swung his right leg over the edge of the roof. His foot immediately connected with the display of valuables and he smiled in relief as they came tumbling down to the ground below with a choir of thuds and crashes.

People were forced to move out of the way lest they get crushed, and the large noise caused half of the market to turn their heads at the commotion. The merchant held the sword in mid air as he turned his eyes to the commotion that occurred in front of him, momentarily taking his eyes off of the girl he was holding down to the table. That left the boy with an incredible opportunity and a well appreciated opening.

Aang barely had any time to think about what he was doing before he jumped over the edge of the building. A store awning broke his fall and allowed him to jump down to the ground with ease. Customers were pushed aside, and in some cases their parcels fell to the ground and scattered every which way. Aang half heard the insults thrown his way and even felt fingers brush against his clothing as some angry people tried to grab him, pull him back, and ask him what exactly he thought he was doing. But Aang was moving too fast, and his eyes were trained on only one specific spot.

As he ran forward, he fumbled with the strap that held his staff on his back and immediately pulled it forward. While he was one that didn't enjoy resorting to violence, it didn't mean that he was incapable of handling the weapon well. The minute that he felt the wood in his hand, he felt his instincts begin to take over and gripped the weapon tightly in his hands. His legs were working on overdrive as he sprinted across the avenue and towards the booth where Toph was still hopelessly struggling.

The only hope that the boy was hanging onto was that the man with the sword was hesitating slightly—whether he was hesitating because he wanted to gain a precise aim, because he was still slightly distracted from before, or because he wanted to scare Toph even more than she already was, Aang didn't know. All he was focused on was the only opening that he had. If he aimed his swing just right, he might be able to get to her in time.

Aang aimed high and swung out his staff so that it flew over Toph's head and connected with the man's jaw. The side swipe caused a sickening crack to sound through the air and the man immediately let loose a howl of pain as he went sprawling to his right. He crashed backwards onto the floor and released the tight grip he had on Toph's wrist. The girl immediately stumbled away from the table and winced as her wrist began throbbing after the circulation was returned.

The boy kept his eyes on the man on the ground, pleased that he wasn't going to be getting up from the ground anytime soon. He quickly turned towards Toph and took her wrist into his hands, turning it over to make sure that it wasn't broken or injured. His eyes were filled with worry as he spoke to her with a voice filled with concern.

"Are you okay?" he asked her quietly. "Can you move it around?"

Toph's eyes finally widened at him and he was sure that she immediately recognized him. However, her eyes didn't light up with the desire to fight at the moment. She simply nodded and swallowed hard. "Yeah, I'm fine." Her wrist was looking a little red and it was still prickling and throbbing, but at least nothing was broken.

From above on the rooftops, Aang turned his head toward Jet who was calling out for his attention. He was leaning over the edge of the roof and had no doubt witnessed the entire scene. "She okay?"

Toph looked up at the roofs and recognized the boy from when she visited Katara's house a couple of weeks ago. She nodded at him and assured him that she was fine. Around them, some women nearby were whispering over to the pair, still shocked that someone had almost gotten their hand chopped off today. Children were peeking around the legs of the taller adults to try and get a good look at the situation, a few pointing their fingers at "that girl who got into a fight with a merchant" and also "the boy who smacked him across the face with a big stick!"

Aang frowned. This was not the kind of attention he wanted on a day like this. While he was grateful that he was able to save her, he just wanted to sneak in, get what he needed, and get out. Everyone's eyes on him made Aang feel uncomfortable and he wanted nothing more than to get out of here and take Toph somewhere safe.

Aang leaned down and whispered in Toph's ear. "Let's get you out of here before we draw any more attention." Toph again didn't try to smart talk him, make fun of him, or berate him in any way. She simply nodded and allowed him to grab her shoulder and push her forward.

Before Aang could try to lead her away from the crowd, he felt a strong hand clamp down on his shoulder. Toph had screamed something at him, but he didn't hear it as he was roughly turned around by another man with an enraged look across his face. Aang was immediately pushed backwards and couldn't catch his footing quickly enough to prevent him from colliding straight into the booth behind him. He felt his spine connect with the edge of the table and felt the pain shoot up and all over his back. Before he could get back on his feet, the man grabbed his collar.

"You're that kid who knocked over all my new shipments, yeah?" he growled, pointing towards the completely decimated pieces of the display that he had knocked down earlier as a distraction. Aang closed his eyes and cursed under his breath. He had almost completely forgotten about that.

"Those are heirloom quality pieces of art, you little rat!" the man kept shouting, lifting Aang higher and higher by his collar as he got more and more frustrated. "I hope you're planning to pay for all of that damage!"

They were each at least two gold pieces each, and Aang had knocked down dozens of them. Even a noble would have to put out a small fortune in order to pay for all of that damage. There was no way he could even think of sweet talking his way out of this, not when he allowed himself to put his guard down and was currently stuck in this man's grasp.

Aang looked to the left and saw his staff lying on the side, but it was too far away for him to try and grab and he knew that it would be a useless attempt. In desperation, he kicked out his foot to try and connect it with the man's gut, but it was an easily predictable move and required little to no effort to block. He pushed Aang against a wall and moved his hand from Aang's collar to around his neck. The boy choked slightly as the man's grip kept him pinned firmly in place.

"If you don't have the money, I better be getting something in return for all of that," the man growled, clenching his fingers tighter around Aang's neck. "You've got five seconds to come up with a proper method of payment!"

The boy was about call out to Jet for help, hoping that he was still on the roof watching the commotion and would jump down to help. He wasn't being pinned to the point where he was choking to death, but the grip was definitely tight enough to cause discomfort and make him unable to move properly. Aang tried again to see if he could reach for his staff, but it was a fruitless attempt. He growled in frustration at his inability to watch his back like he was supposed to. Instead, he was too caught up with making sure that Toph was alright to check his back and make sure that he was safe as well.

As he opened his mouth to call out to his friend, he saw Toph begin to run towards him. He held up his hand and told her to stay where she was and not to get involved. Despite the fact that he new she wasn't his little sister that he needed to keep out of trouble on a constant basis, he didn't need her getting hurt again and he wasn't sure what she would be able to do to get this man off of him either.

But much to his—and for that matter everyone else's—surprise, Toph kicked a foot up and managed to hit the antique owner's chin dead on.

His head shot back at the strong blow and brought both of his hands up to his jaw to ease the pain. Aang immediately fell to the ground and started gasping for breath. He looked ahead of him and saw that the antique owner was bent over in pain, trying to set his jaw back into place. While he was distracted with that, Aang saw Toph swing her foot out similar to the way she did when he met up with her the second time. Just like he toppled to the ground on their second meeting, the owner felt Toph's leg smash against the backs of his knees and cause him to fall onto the ground on his face.

Toph rushed over to Aang and began to pull him back onto his feet. "Quick, before they both get back up."

Aang was too dazed to even bother asking her where she learned to do any of that and allowed her to drag him past the man on the floor and into the crowd to make a hasty get away. He clumsily stumbled onto his feet, still slightly dizzy from the ordeal, but managed to grab his staff and start running further down the market to try and escape.

The pair didn't get too far before the jewelry merchant from before was blocking their path along with at least four other men behind him. They created a makeshift wall and were glaring down at them, each holding a weapon in their hands to try and stop them. The two of them probably looked like a couple of thieves at the moment and all of these men didn't look like they were going to let them get away with running away from the crime scene without compensating them in some way—at this point, it looked like coins or severed hands would have worked out just fine.

Out of the corner of his eye, Aang saw Jet leap down from one of the roofs nearby and pull out his double hook swords. Fully utilizing the element of surprise, he slid down to the ground and managed to hook the swords around the ankles of one of the men, and pulled him to the floor with a resounding thud. He slashed both swords to the right and managed to make a decent sized gash in another man's side. The rest were distracted by the sudden attack and stepped back on instinct to get away from the other teenager who seemed to have appeared out of nowhere.

Jet held up his swords, keeping them ready in front of him should he need to attack suddenly again. He looked back at Aang and Toph and shouted back towards them.

"Get her out of here," he insisted. "I'll meet you at the safe house in an hour."

But Aang frowned and yelled back stubbornly. "I'm not going to leave you here to defend yourself."

Jet growled and swung his swords out in front of him to hook around another man's ankles. He yanked the swords back and pulled the man off of his feet and onto his back. "I'll be fine. Just get out of here before they try and attack you again. Hurry up!"

Aang felt uneasy about leaving Jet to handle the men alone, but couldn't ignore the fact that a number of them were already recovering from the shock and making their way towards the two of them again. Aang nodded and started to run in the other direction with Toph following behind him. Two merchants were absorbed in dealing with Jet, thrusting and slashing their blades in an attempt to subdue the skilled teenager.

As the two other teenagers turned around and sprinted towards safety, they only just caught a glance of the large group of merchants that had chosen to begin pursuing them. Bystanders cowered out of the way of the violent display and did not bother to try and assist the young people involved. The small group of men rushed forward and chased quickly after the pair before they disappeared in the crowds.

Aang's thoughts were buzzing through his head in a manner that was doing little benefit for him. He was trying to visualize the city in his head, figure out the best escape route, and lose their pursuers in the process. At the moment, it was proving to be rather difficult seeing as how the crowds were thick with people and almost every road was too packed with people to offer a speedy getaway like Aang had hoped. Dead ends were not an option, main streets would bring too much attention, and shops would only serve to involve more people than the boy would have liked. At this point, all he had going for him was that Toph was able to keep up with him despite the fact that there were so many people preventing them from running faster.

They could still hear the swords waving behind them and slicing through the air as a sort of preview for what was to come if they didn't hurry up and find a place to catch their breath. They turned a corner and started heading down the street that started to lead into the poorest section of the city. Toph and Aang were already panting heavily and their legs were growing tired. The fact that they were running through the bitter cold did not help matters at all. Aang felt his eyes watering as the wind hit his face relentlessly. The cold was locking his joints and making it harder for him to run any further. He could tell by looking at Toph's expression that she was feeling fatigued as well. If they slowed down any more, no doubt the men behind them would catch up.

After a few more minutes of running, Toph stopped in her tracks and yanked on Aang's sleeve, willing him to stop as well. He clumsily halted his sprinting and turned his attention to where Toph was suddenly pulling him. Off the road was a simple alleyway that camouflaged well with the rest of the street and didn't look like anything special upon inspection. Aang was about to tell her about the dangers of escaping into places that were perpetual dead ends, but the peculiarly strong girl managed to dash his doubts as she desperately pulled him towards the narrow path.

Only a few steps were taken down the alley before Aang saw their path obstructed by a large wooden furniture set which must have been rather elegant looking when it was first bought. Now it was old, worn, and damaged by wind and rain. But little else was observed about it before Toph jumped on top of the destroyed armoire, slid across the surface, and landed on the other side of the blockade.

Quickly understanding the girl's smart, quick thinking, Aang leaped nimbly over the wooden blockade of furniture and landed on the other side with Toph. The cobblestones underneath them were cold and a little wet, but neither paid any mind to it. Aang brought a finger to his lips, urging Toph to try and slow down her breathing and stay quiet. Toph brought a hand over her mouth and listened closely as well. They could hear the men advance down the street they had taken and had even heard them stop momentarily in front of their hiding spot, searching meticulously around the perimeter for any sign of them. But thankfully, they had announced that they would split up and keep looking. Soon, the sounds of angry shouting disappeared, and the young pair were left with only the subtle sounds of the city as their background.

Aang let out a sigh and slumped against one wall of the alleyway. He stretched his legs across to the other wall and allowed them some relief. His staff clattered nosily on the ground and was left next to its owner. He looked across and saw that Toph had taken up a position similar to his. She had her hand pressed up against her forehead and was looking towards the street past their makeshift blockade.

"Do you think we lost them?" Toph muttered through the dim lighting.

He peeked over the edge of the broken furniture and nodded in agreement. "I think so, for now at least. It wouldn't hurt to stay here should they decide to come back."

The girl did nothing but hum in agreement and allow her posture to relax against the stone wall. She leaned her head back against the stone wall and allowed her eyes to flicker closed for a few seconds. "How far away are we from the market?"

Aang shrugged, unable to come up with an exact response. "I imagine pretty far," he sighed bitterly. "I can't hear the market from here, so we must have managed to run down at least twenty blocks away."

Toph groaned and hung her head. "That's just great. Now we're stuck here."

"Not necessarily," Aang countered. "We just have to hang around here until the coast is clear. Maybe a half hour will do the trick. They all will have stopped hunting us down by then, I'm sure."

The girl's tongue clicked against her teeth. "Yeah, well my plans didn't exactly include sitting in a dank, dark alleyway as a source of downtime and entertainment."

Aang stayed silent. He couldn't exactly argue with that sentiment, although he liked to believe that it could've been worse. Besides, _she_ was the one who dragged him in here in the first place. But he had a feeling if he pointed out that small detail, she would only grow more frustrated with him and start fighting with him again. So he simply nodded and stood quiet, waiting for the opportunity to get out.

Green eyes lazily wandered towards the other boy who was keeping his eyes trained on the opening of the alley. It was strange how no matter what either teen did, somehow they managed to run into each other in the most unorthodox of circumstances. It was equally surprising that they had been around each other for well over ten minutes and they hadn't tried to tease, irritate, or anger each other. Not that it seemed as if they were complaining, but the surprise run-ins were becoming somewhat disconcerting.

Toph noticed purple blotches bloomed across the pale skin on Aang's neck. They contrasted considerably and they snaked all the way around to the other side from the looks of it. She flinched slightly at the sight and frowned.

"You have bruises on your neck," she muttered quietly. "That guy must have had a pretty tight grip on you."

Aang broke his gaze and turned his attention to the green eyed noble. "Bruises?"

Toph nodded and gestured to her own neck. "Yeah. They're all around here. They're starting to look a little purple."

Sure enough, when the boy brought fingers up to touch the skin there, shocks of mild but sharp pain spread around the area. He could feel the thick lines left by the other man's strong fingers and scowled. "I wasn't expecting any different I guess," he sighed. "But I would worry more about your hands."

Toph stared down at her wrists and almost gasped out loud. It felt as if that man was depriving her wrist of necessary blood flow, but she didn't think that he would cause such a major bruise. She supposed she did bruise easily to begin with, but the large inflicted areas around her wrists were impossible to ignore. They were a darker purple than Aang's bruises were and would probably take longer to go away.

"Dammit," Toph muttered hatefully. "How am I going to hide this from my parents?"

Aang tapped the cobblestones beneath him. "Try resting your wrists against the ground. It's cold enough that it might help numb them a little bit."

The girl pressed the damaged flesh against the freezing ground and sighed slightly. She could still feel the sting of the injuries, but at least it was helping the pain a little bit. The two didn't say anything to each other after that and lapsed in a comfortable silence.

Toph looked over at Aang who had by now brought his knees up to his chest and was hugging them tightly. A strong wind blew straight into the alley and managed to blow past the small cracks and crevices the blockade provided. Toph shivered slightly from the cold, but saw at the corner of her eye how Aang was pulling on his feeble sweater so that it would hug his body tighter and maybe provide more warmth.

The noble looked down at the long coat, wool cloak, and thick scarf she was wearing. While it was certainly attire that most people at the market that day were wearing, she couldn't help but notice for the first time that she had ran into Aang today that he was terribly dressed. It looked like he was wearing the same pants from the last time she saw him, boots that didn't look suited for cold weather, and an autumn sweater that looked like it was thin and contained a hole or two at the elbow or at the shoulder.

Compared to how cold the weather was meant to be for the rest of the winter, today really wasn't anything to cower against the wall about. But she couldn't imagine how cold he must have been with only that little bit of clothing. He must have known about the harsh winter months this year. Why would he…?

Then something clicked in her mind.

_Oh. Maybe…_

Her fingers pulled on the string around the black cloak she had on. She shrugged it off of her shoulders and bunched it together in her arms. She reached across and poked Aang in the side of the leg with her foot. He allowed his teeth to chatter only a little bit before he looked up, waiting to see what she wanted.

Toph held out the piece of clothing. "Here. Take it."

The boy looked up startled and stared at the cloak she was holding in her hands. "What's that?"

Toph shrugged. "You looked cold. I mean, that thin sweater you're wearing can't be doing much for you. It's freezing out here."

There was a look of tentativeness in his eyes, and he didn't immediately react to the offer. But his shivers were getting a little violent now that he didn't have the excuse of walking and running as a way of keeping him warm. Sighing heavily, he reached out slowly and took the cloak from her. She watched him wrap the cloak around his shoulders and cover his knees with it. It wasn't much, but at least his shivering had stopped and it looked like he was warming up. She heard him mutter a small thank you as he pulled the cloak closer to him.

"It's fine," she assured him as she pressed her wrists back against the cool stones beneath her. "You need it more than I do."

Aang didn't choose to argue the statement and simply lapsed into another silence, leaving nothing more than the sound of the cold breeze blowing past their ears to fill the silence. Toph looked down at the floor as if she were examining her hands. But she allowed herself to look up past her lashes towards Aang again. She caught him with his hands wrapped around his legs and his forehead resting on his knees. She wanted to smile at the sight and muse at how much like a little kid he looked at the moment, but there was an almost melancholy aspect to how he was carrying himself.

Toph wondered where the desire to hate him had suddenly gone. She knew technically why she wasn't supposed to like him. The first time they met went horribly, and the second time they met only turned into a shouting match in the middle of the street. She was supposed to be annoyed with him. She was supposed to be turning her nose away from him, finding some way to escape these merchants on her own, and leaving him here to deal with his own problems. And she was absolutely _positive_ that you weren't supposed to offer your cloak to your enemy when you saw that they were cold.

He was an enigma. Everything that revolved around him was nothing short of a conundrum. One minute he was an annoying nuisance, the next he was saving her life and going out of his way to bring her to safety. And if she was correct in her assumptions, there was more to him than what she had been exposed to.

Realizing suddenly that she hadn't offered him a proper thank you for what he had done for her, she decided lift her head and start another conversation.

"Um…thanks for what you did back there, by the way," she muttered quietly. "I really thought I was done for."

Aang lifted his head as well at the comment and tilted his head in confusion. "You don't need to thank me. I saw someone in trouble and I dropped in to help. Any decent human being would have done the same thing." He unwrapped his arms and instead sat with his legs crossed in front of him, allowing him to lean forward towards Toph. "Besides, I should be thanking you too."

It was Toph's turn to act confused. "Me? What did I do?"

"You kicked that merchant as he was choking me and knocked him down to the ground," Aang exclaimed with his voice filled with admiration. He obviously wouldn't mention this, but he was more surprised at the fact that a Bei Fong of all people would know how to land a good kick and actually bring a fully grown man down to the ground without any effort at all. It was fascinating to say the least. "Where did you learn to do that?"

"Oh, uh…" Toph hesitated. "Just…I had a friend that used to live near me that taught me how to fight when I was really little. It's not a big deal." Aang had to struggle to keep from raising an eyebrow at her comment. He knew for a fact that couldn't possibly have been the whole truth taking her upbringing into consideration. But Toph didn't know that Aang knew she was a noble. So if he was at all suspicious of her behavior, he tried not to let it show.

Toph looked around quickly for a way to change the topic and put it away from her when her eyes landed on his staff a few inches away from him.

"What's more impressive is your performance," she smirked. "Where did you learn bo staff fighting, huh?"

Aang shrugged and smiled. "My father taught me when I was really little, too. He always used to tell me that every person needs a way to keep themselves safe. While he never liked me fighting, he had no problem with teaching me how to defend myself and protect others."

Toph bit her lip and looked up at him carefully. "Was it also because he wanted you to know how to get away from a sticky situation?"

The boy scowled and stared curiously at his companion. "What do you mean by that?"

The noble girl furrowed her brows and tried to formulate exactly what she was trying to say in a sensible sentence. She truly didn't know what she meant either, but she had a hunch and she wanted to try and see if that hunch was right. "You're one of those street boys that I always see stealing on market days, right?"

Aang eyed the girl carefully. He leaned back against the wall again and stared curiously at his companion. "Now what would make you think that?"

The girl shrugged and flipped her wrists so that the other sides were pressing against the ground. "A number of things. You want me to go through all of them?"

"Hey, be my guest," Aang smirked and offered the opportunity to the peculiar noble. "I'm interested to hear how completely predictable I can be."

Toph rolled her eyes at the sarcasm, but continued nonetheless. "It's not that you're predictable. It's just habits and details that I pick up on. For example, your clothes…" She gestured to the ratty sweater that Aang was wearing underneath the cloak she had just lent him. "No offense or anything, but unless you were a complete idiot, no one would come out here in this weather dressed like that willingly." Aang looked down guiltily. Yeah, that would be a large indicator, wouldn't it?

The girl continued. "Your clothes don't have pockets and I can't see any wallets or satchels on you, so I'm assuming you aren't carrying money. I noticed the same thing the other two times I met you."

Aang scowled. "That doesn't mean anything, necessarily. Just because I don't have money doesn't mean you can make such assumptions."

Toph gave him a deadpanned look. "And I suppose you were walking around the market place for good fun, in the freezing cold, dressed like that. You _had_ to come out here today to the market. The fact that you don't have any money on you makes me think that you weren't planning on buying anything."

A mixture of shock and fascination washed over Aang as he continued to hear the end of Toph's speech. "And anyway, I saw how those merchants were looking at you. If I'm not mistaking, some of them were staring as if they recognized you…" Toph smirked and chuckled, "which makes me think that you frequent market days quite often."

The grey eyed boy didn't have anything to say to her as she sat there looking extremely self satisfied. He narrowed his eyes. But he soon relented and laid out his hands in front of her as if her were finally coming clean. "Alright, fine. I'll give it you. You got me."

The noble brought her hand up in defense and spoke quickly. "Like I said, I'm not saying it's a bad thing…I just noticed, you know?"

But Aang waved aside the comment. "I wasn't offended, just curious."

Toph shrugged. "Anyway. I think it's cool. You guys are pretty funny sometimes."

The boy lifted a brow. "What do you mean?"

"I was around the last market day and you see a lot of people pulling little stunts like trying to steal a piece of fruit or something," Toph chuckled to herself. "You see a lot of crazy things, especially a group of kids jumping one guy for a bag of food. Now I know I see _that_ a lot."

Aang smiled. When he was that little, he and Jet used to do the same thing. It seemed like it was only yesterday since they had made little plans in an alley beforehand and wound up ditching it entirely in exchange for kicking, punching, and biting. "Well, you have to do what you have to do."

Toph nodded. "I respect that. It's a liberating lifestyle if you ask me."

"Most wouldn't agree," Aang mused. "I get a lot of crap from a lot of people about the way I live. But I try not to let people get to me."

The girl smirked and couldn't resist using the opening he gave her. "Really? Because I recall you being bothered by my being…oh what was it again…ah yes!...'spoiled, rotten, hot headed, and quick-to-get-angry.'"

A scowl quickly marred the boy's features. "This coming from the person who called me a jerk and a creep and tripped me four seconds later," he grumbled. "I really don't think you have the right to judge."

"I was only stating a fact, my friend," Toph said innocently. "After all, I call them as I see them," she laughed.

The boy growled. "You know, you're lucky no one has beaten you up yet for things you tell people. When are you going to quit, huh?"

The girl laughed and rolled her eyes at the boy's reaction. She decides to make a little friendly quip at him and he goes and gets all riled up over nothing. She was only teasing, but she supposed he had a right to be upset. They haven't exactly been on the best of terms.

"Gosh, I was only joking. But how about a proposal, since you're taking this so seriously?" Toph offered. "While I would love to keep making fun of you and watching you get upset, because it's actually one of the funniest things I've seen in a while…" Toph held up a hand to silence Aang when she saw him open his mouth in anger to what she just said. "…I have to admit it's getting tiring. Staying mad at someone is harder than being nice and I feel like I owe you for today," she said honestly.

Toph shrugged. "I'll find a better way to repay you later, but because we both saved each other just now, how about we call it a truce for today? If we really want to kill each other, we can do it on another day. Deal?"

Aang mulled over the offer. To be honest, he was too annoyed and too tired to fight with her today. Added to the fact that he probably won't get anything done today like he had wanted to, he almost got killed and had to leave his best friend out there against a bunch of dangerous men while he ran away to safety. To say that today had gone horribly was an understatement. He didn't want to be put in a worse mood because of some girl insulting him like she had all the right in the world.

No. That would definitely be the last straw towards completely fouling his mood.

He didn't hesitate in his answer. "Fine," he agreed. "We'll be nice today."

"Excellent," Toph said and brushed her hands as if she were wiping herself clean of all she was planning to say to him. In truth, nothing would make her happier than to embarrass him further. But she wasn't lying when she said she wasn't in the mood to fight today. They had saved each other from possibly being maimed—or worse. She figured today was their designated day off.

The sound of running filled the small space they were hiding from, and the two quickly noticed that it was coming from the street just beyond their current position. It sounded like another crowd of people searching around for the two of them. Neither wanted to risk peeking out to see, but it was apparent that they were holding weapons since the sounds of swords being sheathed and unsheathed could be heard. It had only been about half an hour since they started chasing them, and this kind of manhunt could only be called persistent.

The crowd didn't stay around for long and quickly ran forward and away from the two hiding teenagers. Aang grumbled under his breath and ran a hand down his face. This was completely idiotic. He didn't think that they would be so set on finding them like this. It was as if they would look for hours and not stop until something was found. At this rate, Aang would be hiding like a stray here all day.

"This is just brilliant," he said darkly into his hands. "There go all of my plans for today."

Toph turned back to Aang. "What do you mean? We won't be here for _that_ long now. It's still early."

But the boy shook his head and banged it against the wall behind him. "I'm not going to be able to go back there. If I go back to try and take something, they're going to recognize me and be on their guard. Heck, some of them may even try to attack me again."

"But don't merchants always recognize you?" Toph asked. "I mean just now, a lot of them looked like they knew who you were."

"I don't steal from the same person twice," Aang elaborated. "At least not during instances that are too close together. I can usually get away from slinking away from the people that know me and hitting someplace else." He groaned and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "But look at how many people are after us and how persistent they are. I can't go back there. I'm going to have to wait until the next market day."

Toph frowned. This wasn't really her area of expertise, but she tried to make the situation sound better than it seemed to be for Aang. "Well, there's another market day in about a week. You can take what you need then."

Frustration started to bubble up and Aang couldn't help but glare at Toph's reassurances. "Yeah. A whole week. I'll have to wait a whole week for what I desperately needed today! Plus, that market day won't be like this one. We could have hit the mother load today. It won't be the same next week."

The girl decided not to comment on the gaze being directed at her. She watched him look to his side and mutter to himself something that she couldn't understand. She wasn't sure what was so important about today, but it must have been crucial for him to be reacting the way he was. Toph would never know what it was like to be in a position such as this one, and she was tempted to just leave Aang to his problems. There would be no way she could really help him if she didn't even fully understand what he went through every day. But somehow, the curiosity and—dare she say it—concern caused her to press on.

"What did you need to get for today?" Toph asked.

Aang smirked darkly and pulled on the collar of the sweater he was wearing underneath. "New clothes," he offered lamely. "Jet and I were supposed to get some warm clothes, but it looks like that's not going to happen. It'll be a miracle if we get back in there without being noticed."

Toph bit her lip. He was lucky if he didn't go home today with a cold or something. He was crazy if he thought he was going to last the week with just what he had.

It was happening again. Gone was the desire to keep fighting with him and shove all of his insults in his face, and here was the feeling that maybe he wasn't so bad and it wouldn't hurt to be nicer to him once in a while. An enigma. An eternal conundrum. All of this back and forth "I hate him—now I don't" stuff was getting more frustrating that it was confusing. But she couldn't deny her reaction now.

Maybe it had to do with the fact that they had just promised to be nicer to each other, or maybe it was just out of common courtesy. No, that couldn't have been it. While she would have sympathized with anyone else in trouble like this, something about him hit her in a spot that hurt. The dejected way he was carrying himself, the look of panic and hopelessness in his eyes…all of it was amplified ten times more than it should've been and was slammed down on her shoulder for her to feel along with him. She felt like doing something to help him wouldn't have been out of obligation, but out of genuine concern. She wasn't entirely sure why this frustrating boy was making her feel so terrible for him, but she knew that she wasn't so evil as to let him stay all pathetic and moping like this forever.

She wanted to do something—anything—to help him.

"You…you can keep the cloak," she offered. "I don't really need it. I've got others."

The boy, however, refused the gesture. "I'm not going to take this from you. It wouldn't be right. I'll figure it out somehow."

"How? You just said that stealing from these merchants would be impossible! What do you plan to do, sew them yourself?" Leave it to him to have too much pride to accept a measly piece of clothing when he was clearly in desperate need of it. While this certainly wasn't enough to help him, at least it was a start to what she was hopefully planning to do in the future. She wasn't sure why, but she somehow felt responsible for ruining his plans for today.

"Look, I insist," Toph said as she tried to make the boy see just a little bit of reason. "Think of this as my thank you gift."

However, it seemed as if the boy heard none of it. He removed the cloak from around his shoulders and handed it back to the girl as if emphasizing that he didn't need her help in this matter. "I'm all warmed up now. I'll be fine, so just go ahead and take it back."

"I'm telling you it's yours!" She raised her voice an octave, slowly getting angrier and angrier with him by the minute.

"Then I'll leave it here in the street," Aang countered as he held the cloak in his hands. "Either you take it back or it stays here. It'd be a waste for you to leave such a nice cloak abandoned."

Toph frowned and clenched her fists. The pain shooting up from her bruised wrists was forgotten. "You're one to talk, hypocrite!"

"I appreciate the gesture," Aang said with his face growing serious. "But I don't need help."

The cloak was just sitting in his hands and Toph knew that no matter what she said he wasn't going to take it. If it had anything to do with pride or with paying her back or whatever it was that he was struggling with, it didn't look like arguing about it was going to help. Reluctantly, she took the cloak from his hands, but didn't make a move to put it back on. It was a weak form of defiance, she knew, but at least it would show him that she wasn't at all pleased with any of this.

It didn't take much effort to just accept a gift. She couldn't see what the problem was.

"So how are you going to get what you need to stay warm?" She cringed at the fact that she was sounding like Katara with this level of concern in her voice, but it was too late to hold back on it now. There was no use hiding the fact that she was worried for this boy who did nothing else but get under her skin in a way that no one else could.

The boy shrugged lamely. "Who knows? I'll figure it out somehow, but it's not anything you need to worry about. It's my business."

Toph didn't vocalize it, but she made it clear to herself that she wouldn't accept such a half baked excuse. If anything, it gave her grounds to try her best to help him even more.

Toph sighed and stared at him hard. "Is there any way I'm going to change your mind?"

Almost as if he was attempting to mock her, he smiled innocently and shook his head. "Not at all."

Well, there it was. She officially had no idea what this boy was all about. If he was confusing her before, he had her absolutely dumbfounded now. If there was any way to figure him out and find out what his motives were for any of this, she would gladly accept it. He was turning out to be more of a headache that she had expected.

Aang broke Toph out of her thoughts and stood up from his spot, almost as if they hadn't just had a giant discussion one moment before. He turned to her and brought his fingers to his lips before he climbed silently over the broken furniture and towards the opening of the alley. Toph stood on her knees and peeked over the top of the blockade to see what Aang was doing. She listened, and she heard no suspicious behavior anywhere nearby. They had been sitting here for a while. If those merchants were really still looking for them, they had no lives to speak of.

Sure enough, Aang walked out into the street and gestured Toph towards him. The girl climbed over and made her way back into the street where Aang was standing. She looked around for any sign of the merchants, but found none. The streets were still as crowded as ever, but at least it didn't seem like anyone was giving them the evil eye or anything.

"You think it's alright to head out now?" Toph asked.

Aang nodded and began walking to the right, gesturing for Toph to follow him. "I think so. I find it hard to believe they're still running around. They can't leave their booths alone forever."

Toph assented. "Yeah, true."

They made their way back onto one of the main roads. It wasn't too late in the day. At most, it was almost noon. That left Toph the rest of the day to with what she wanted, but she had a feeling that by looking at Aang he had a lot on his plate right now.

"I wouldn't head back there for a while if I were you," Aang warned her.

Toph scoffed. "You don't have to tell me twice. I don't really have any other business over there anyway."

Aang looked back towards the market as he spoke. "You okay by yourself?"

"Totally," Toph assured him. She tucked the unwanted cloak under her arms and looked around where she was. She still had plenty of time to go where she wanted and she knew more or less where they ended up while they were running. "I still have a few things to do. Besides, you look like you want to get back to your friend."

The boy didn't tear his gaze away from the direction of the market to agree or disagree with her statement. But it was already apparent where his mind was at the moment. Toph was sure that he was worried sick about him during the entire time they were hiding over here.

Through her head were thoughts about his refusal for help, yet his absolute desperate look when he realized that he'd be short on clothes for the rest of this week. She couldn't help but frown at his stubbornness. While it was something she usually liked about herself and other people, this was ridiculous. Still she didn't let it show. '

"Hurry up and go," she told him. She turned around and headed down the street to her next destination. "I'll be fine on my own."

Aang turned and saw her begin to walk away. "You can get home alright?"

Toph waved a hand over her head as if to dismiss his worrying. "Yeah, yeah, yeah, quit badgering me. Just go before you die from worry."

The girl looked over her shoulder and just caught sight of him running into the crowd, probably back for his friend Jet before something bad happened to him. She didn't turn away and keep walking until she was sure that he was completely out of her sight. For some reason, he left an annoying feeling nestled in her chest that she now felt obligated to deal with.

She wasn't sure what his deal was, and she really didn't like the fact that she was meddling in someone's life like this. He didn't ask for it, and she was almost sure he would react strongly against it if he found out she did something for him. But there were ways of making sure it didn't lead back to her, right? She could find a way to cut him some slack. She couldn't deny that there was still something infuriating about him, and the times where they fought weren't forgotten. But for some reason, him saving her and his whole demeanor in that alley just now seemed to have been amplified in her head ten times stronger. She couldn't bear to ignore it.

Toph walked forward and started planning in her head. She had to do something for him. After that, they would never run into each other again, he wouldn't be nagging at her thoughts all the time, and her conscience would be clean. Everyone would win and no one would get hurt.

Now the only question was how to go about it.

**OOO**

_**A/N: **Reviews are love! They really boost morale during an author's dark and hopeless moments when they don't feel like writing. _


	7. Preparations

_**A/N:**__ I finally got a laptop~! Now I don't have to steal my roommate's computer anymore and I can write whenever I want to. Also, I have my laptop with me during school, so I can even type out chapters during all my free blocks. So this is good for all of us. I just can't stop staring at it! It's so gorgeous; I think I'm in love, haha! Well, let me not keep you all any longer. Enjoy!_

**OOO**

**Chapter 7**

**Preparations**

**OOO**

Unfortunately for Aang, his little detour left him farther away from the warehouse he and Jet had agreed to meet up in than he would have liked.

The moment he made it back on the main road, he realized just how far from the market he really was. While Aang could certainly come up with a multitude of reasons for why that was an extremely good thing, he couldn't ignore the exasperation that came over him when he realized that he would have to walk quite a bit before he would be able to get all the way to where Jet was.

If he had to make a rough estimate, it was probably a twenty minute walk. It would have been a lovely stroll through the city on any other day, and he probably would have accepted it gladly and without any complaint. But the last thing he wanted to do was be outside in this weather for longer than he had to. Walking would keep him a bit warm, but he still wasn't looking forward to it.

Aang sighed and crossed his arms across his chest to still his shivering body. Now that it was around noon, the sun was finally peeking its way from behind the clouds that hung over the city this morning. Large patches of sunlight were actually falling on the sidewalks and streets for the first time in hours. Aang decided that that was his best bet if he wanted to stay warm. So, being careful to walk only where the sun was shining, Aang trudged through the busy streets to the safe house.

The boy knew that sulking wasn't a dignified habit to become attached to, but he couldn't help suppressing the frown on his face. As he walked, he felt his staff bump against him where it was strapped to his back. That was a comforting feeling, but the empty bags on his back weren't in the least.

Days when Aang walked home with nothing to show for were depressing for him, and that was saying it nicely. It didn't feel good to be walking around with only your clothes on your back and knowing that was really all you had to call your own at the moment. He mainly felt like a failure, first and foremost. Aang psyched himself up with the mindset that he would be coming home a rich (well, rich as per his standards) man today. He thought that he would be able to outsmart those worthless, cheating salesmen at the market, slink away unnoticed, and everything would work out well for him.

Now, looking back, he just felt incredibly stupid.

Then, of course, there was always that fear that came with not having anything to show for today. Empty bags and empty hands meant that there would be nothing of something for a few weeks.

One time, it had been no blankets. Thank the higher beings that it was the fall when that happened so it really wasn't that cold outside, and Aang had managed. But he remembered how frightened he was of cold weather that autumn. He had waited three weeks for the next market day that time.

Another instance, it had been no shoes. That was terrible. It wasn't uncommon to see people walking around barefoot in the city when they had nothing to wear on their feet. If anything, in the life Aang led, shoes were valuable, and you had to be really good to swipe a good pair of boots. But Aang's had worn out to the point where they were no longer usable, and he had failed to get a new pair during a market day. So he walked around barefoot for a month, stepping on sharp glass, stubbing his toes on rocks in the middle of the road, and scuffing up the soles of his feet. By the time he did manage to get shoes, his feet weren't a pretty sight.

Even now, as he was turning a street corner, three little girls munching on a loaf of bread were outside in only thin socks. Their poor feet looked cold, but there was nothing they could really do about it. Lucky for them, there was a market day in another week—or so he heard—so they wouldn't go too long without anything.

_But at least they have jackets_, Aang thought bitterly, hugging his meager sweater closer to himself.

That was the other scary thing about all of it: you never knew when market days were. They weren't scheduled. Often merchants came and went when they felt like it. The only time when markets days were scheduled was the beginning of the first winter month—like today—or the beginning of the first summer month. From listening to the excited chatter of the people he walked by, Aang heard rumors of another market day in approximately a week. But he didn't know how much faith to put into that.

During the rest of the year, market days were everywhere from two days apart to two months apart, depending on sales shortages, weather, traveling, and other variables that prevented traveling merchants from making a living. So if you missed your chance one day, you never knew when you would get a second one.

The biggest scare Aang had was about a year ago. Jet and Aang were running away with a basket of food on a day where it was raining heavily. But they had both stumbled and dropped everything they grabbed in a muddy puddle on the streets. They had tried picking up the food and considered eating the unsoiled parts, but everything was so saturated in dirt and muck that nothing was worth salvaging. It wasn't as if they could go back and get more now that they attracted so much attention.

The two were forced to endure through two agonizing weeks with nothing but a little bit of cheese and half a loaf of bread.

It wasn't just the fact that coming back empty handed made you feel like a pathetic good for nothing. Aang was terrified of starving or freezing to death all because of the fact that he managed to slip up one day. That was something he was afraid to accept, with very good reason. He hoped that it would never come to that.

Aang's thoughts began drifting towards meaningless topics, and he allowed his mind to race randomly in hopes that it would distract him from the cold and just keep him going towards his destination. Truthfully, he really didn't want to dwell on horrible memories like that anymore. Sometimes, he had nightmares about being stuck in the cold or going a month without food. Even now, he could feel his stomach clenching in pain from the memories. It wasn't healthy for him to recall such things. His focus now was making sure that his friend was alright and not injured.

The safe house that Aang and Jet had chosen actually used to be a workshop that manufactured toys. He vaguely remembered the shop when it was in operation and when the polished display windows held toys, dolls, and models in every color imaginable. Of course Aang never had enough money to purchase a toy of his own, he remembered sitting in front of the toy shop on some days watching all the children inside smile and enjoy the presents they had purchased.

The man who owned the shop died a few years ago. So the workshop was currently left abandoned since no one else was left to care for it. But as Aang began to see the workshop come into view, he smiled when he realized that it still looked much as it did when it was still running. A few windows were cracked, the door was off the hinges, the shutters were splintered, and the whole place looked dusty. But overall, nothing had had changed. And because no one bothered to pay it any mind, it would be the perfect place to escape to after they finished raiding markets.

Aang tried the doorknob to the front door, but found that he couldn't push the door open. He even tried throwing his weight into the door with his shoulder, but nothing seemed to be working. Upon closer inspection, Aang noticed that the hinges looked rusted over, so there was probably no sense in trying to force the door open. It didn't look like it would budge anyway.

"There's got to be another way to get inside…" he muttered to himself.

He considered the idea of calling out to Jet to see if he was inside, but he was afraid that this would cause the few people who were walking past to turn their heads. He didn't need to bring attention to himself.

Of course, another more frightening thought crossed his mind afterwards…

_No_, Aang thought adamantly. _There's no way he'd let something happen to him. He said he'd meet me here. I know he made it._

Aang walked around the perimeter of the building to find another entrance. He had to climb over piles of broken furniture and other useless junk that cluttered the sides of the building in order to circle the workshop. There was a back entrance that Aang considered trying, but quickly shot down the idea once he realized that the doors were boarded shut. He looked along the sides of the building again and wondered if there was perhaps a window he could climb through.

Going back, he saw that there was indeed a window that was opened just a crack on the second floor. Directly underneath it was a pile of wood; if he stood on it, he could probably just reach the window and get inside.

Hoping that this was his ticket inside, Aang lifted himself onto the high perch and reached up towards the open window. He was able to open the shutters and saw that the glass to the window was missing. He wasted no time in lifting himself onto the ledge and quietly slipping inside the open window.

Aang made sure to land silently on the slim chance that someone else besides Jet was inside. He seemed to have entered a spacious room that was probably used either as a large storage closet or a small studio. It was still a bit cold inside the building, but Aang found some relief now that there was no wind blowing in. Satisfied that this room was empty, Aang closed the shutters and proceeded through the rest of the house.

There were only two rooms on the second floor, so Aang entered the other entryway on this floor. There were several candles lit around the room since the lighting was already dim to begin with. The room was also considerably warmer than the rest of the workshop—not by much, but it was something. However, Aang's attention was drawn immediately to the body slumped over in the corner of the room.

"Jet!" Aang knelt down next to his friend and noticed that he had fallen asleep with his hook swords gripped loosely in his hands. He must have gotten tired of waiting for him.

Aang shook the boy's shoulder and his eyes immediately began to flutter open. On instinct, he backed away further into the wall and lifted his swords in front of him, probably thinking that there was an intruder in the building. But his eyes quickly focused and settled on Aang who was holding his hands up in defense. Jet sighed and laid the swords down on the ground with a small clatter.

"You scared me," Jet sighed. "I was waiting for a while for you to come back and I was about to go and get you. But I think I fell asleep somewhere in between. Sorry."

"It's fine," Aang answered and shrugged his staff and his bags off of his shoulders. "Nothing happened on my end. I was more worried about you. Are you alright?"

Jet shrugged and lifted his arm, showing a shallow but long cut that ran the length of his upper arm. "Nothing big. Just a little scratch. It's already stopped bleeding already so I figured there was nothing to worry about."

Jet's reassurance didn't quell the sinking feeling inside of Aang's chest. While he was busy hiding in an alley, Jet was putting himself in danger all to cover up for his friend who wasn't paying attention to his surroundings as well as he should have been. "You shouldn't have gotten hurt in the first place," Aang muttered. "If I had paid more attention and gotten out of there right away—"

"Look, save the guilt trip, Aang. It's fine," Jet chuckled. "I'd need more than both my hands to count the times you bailed me out of a sticky situation. Consider this one small step towards making it up to you."

He knew that Jet was only trying to make him feel better, but Aang still didn't allow himself to feel relieved just yet. He truly hated it when either of them had to get hurt for the other one. It didn't seem right and he was never okay with it when Jet had to help him out and get hurt in the process. But, Aang supposed since Jet wasn't stressing it as much as he was, he would let it go. They had bigger things to worry about anyway.

"So, how did it look when you got away?" Aang asked hesitantly. He was almost afraid to ask. Jet escaping with all of his limbs and no serious injuries was only a small step towards quelling all of Aang's worries. As much as he knew what the answer would be, he almost hoped that Jet would be the bearer of good news. But he supposed it wasn't good to get his hopes up.

Jet's face scrunched up. "Well…let's just say that for the time being, we should seriously consider the benefits of living as fugitives for a few weeks."

Upsetting, but again, Aang saw it coming.

Jet was immediately aware of his frustration and frowned. "So," Jet started casually, hoping to change the course of the conversation. "Is that girl okay? What was her name again? Toph or something…"

Aang blinked. He had almost completely forgotten about Toph while he was busy sulking al the way back to the safe house. He nodded. "Yeah, she was fine. A little bruised around the wrists but she was fine."

"I'm surprised you didn't walk her home or something," Jet smirked and nudged Aang playfully with his elbow. "You strike me as the gentlemanly type that would do something sappy like that."

"I don't think she would have let me take her to her house," Aang replied. Ignoring the fact that this girl was physically too proud to even consider letting Aang of all people walk her home, he imagined that she would still insist on going home by herself.

There were many things that he still didn't know about her and she was still something of a complete mystery to him. Why was someone like her hanging around the market place when she probably had people who went and bought the things she needed for her? Why was she dressed like a commoner and mingling around with people like Katara when she probably had rich friends she could be having simple conversations with? What was she trying to do? What was she trying to prove? Although all of this remained unanswered, Aang was able to surmise one thing for certain: she clearly did not want anyone to know that she was a noble.

He knew that much from the fact when he asked her about her fighting skills. He may not have been a human lie detector, but he definitely saw her struggle with her answer as if she was searching for a lie to tell him. If she was hesitant to reveal who she was, the idea of walking her home was completely out of the question. It probably would have only depressed him to go through the rich part of the city anyway.

"That was pretty crazy what you did, by the way," Jet commented after the little lapse of silence. "Talk about a close call. A half a second more and that poor girl would have been nursing an amputated limb right about now."

"It's not really that impressive if you think about it," Aang replied and tried to sound humble about the ruckus he caused today. "I would have done it the same thing had it been anyone else."

"I don't know," Jet laughed. "You looked pretty frantic when you saw who it was. Love struck, are you?"

The grey eyed boy just glared and allowed Jet to laugh at the very faint but still apparent flush in Aang's cheeks. It was frustrating. There was something just so completely infuriating about the girl, so much that sometimes he couldn't stand thinking about her because of all of the stress she had already caused him in the past. But then again, his thoughts also ran back to the first time he had ever seen her: all dressed up, solemn, depressed, sad, disconnected, but still stunningly and completely gorgeous.

After today, she supposed she wasn't exactly as demonic as he thought before. The fact that they managed to have a civil conversation was proof that things weren't completely strained. She even offered to help him with his issues, even though he adamantly insisted that such a gesture was completely unnecessary. He supposed she was charming in an annoying and irritating sort of way, and that was only part of the time.

Of course he knew that if he didn't jump in to save her today, the two boys would have probably gotten away with stealing a winter's worth of clothes and more today. But despite all of the fighting and yelling they had subjected the other to, it was still worth saving her. He didn't regret it in the least. What he did regret was the fact that he hadn't been a little bit more careful to ensure a clean getaway for himself.

Now they were stuck in this mess.

"Have you been listening around?"Aang suddenly asked. "Apparently there's going to be a market day in a week."

Jet snorted and shook his head in disbelief. "I'll believe it when I see it. Don't trust random people off the street with information like that. It's never true. Besides, we have to worry about how we're going to last from here on in."

Jet was right, and Aang nodded in affirmation. But he wasn't sure how much they could really do at this point save sucking it up and dealing with the cold for who knew how long.

"When I was running back, I saw some boxes filled with old blankets behind a building." Jet pointed to the far left corner towards a small pile of thin quilts folded and piled neatly on top of each other. They looked thin and worn, as if someone had thrown them out because they weren't in good enough condition to keep. Aang turned to Jet as saw the defeated expression on his face. They both knew it wasn't much to smile at, but at least it was something extra.

"We can each take half," Jet reasoned with his face set into a hard look of concentration. "It doesn't solve the clothes problem, but at least it'll be more cover for us when we're sleeping. That's a start."

"Yeah," Aang agreed. "But what are we going to do when we have to go outside? It's only going to get colder from here on in and going outside without proper cover won't be a very smart idea."

The anxiety from the situation was already getting to Aang as he ran his fingers through his hair in frustration, attempting to piece together his thoughts. "It's easier to get sick when it's cold out, so I don't think it's smart to go outside unless we're properly prepared."

"So what are you saying? We can't go outside until a market day shows up?" Jet asked incredulously. "Do you realize how stupid that sounds?"

"I'm not saying to completely quarantine ourselves," Aang explained. "But we shouldn't go out unless it's absolutely necessary. Going out for food and water is unavoidable, but other than that we should stay inside where it's at least remotely warmer."

Jet didn't seem as if he were taking the news of staying holed up in his home well. Aang understood that, but it wasn't as if they had much of a choice.

"There are a limited number of stores and shops that we can steal water and food from without getting caught, Aang," Jet said, his voice rising little by little the more the two of them discussed their extremely limited options. "The employees at a store don't change. If we steal from them once, they'll recognize us the second time. And even if we do manage to get away with taking something unnoticed, they'll notice two ruffian kids are always walking into the shop, keeping their backs to the employees, and not buying anything each and every time. It won't take a genius to figure out what we're doing."

It was all true, but there was still no need to so pessimistic about it. The last thing they could afford to be at this point was pessimistic. "Would you calm down? You're making it sound as if we're going to starve to death."

Jet wasn't looking in Aang's direction. His posture was rigid and he was adamant in keeping his eyes on the wall across from him. Aang knew that when Jet was particularly annoyed, he had a habit of blowing things up into issues that they really weren't. He overreacted and he often let his anger get the better of him. He knew that if he was driven far enough, he could get himself so deep in trouble that not even Aang would be able to get him out. It was never good to lose patience with him, as Aang constantly reminded himself.

"I've still got that basket of bread that I got from the bakery yesterday, so that'll still be good until the end of the week. There is still some fruit left from today that we can spare, you've got two big jugs of water back at your place, and there's still come dry crackers that I have that we can eat. They won't go bad for a while and we'll be covered. And of course, if we happen to run out, we can hit another bakery or a small restaurant and steal some little things to keep us nourished."

Taking all of those factors into consideration, they could be kept busy for about two weeks with what they have currently, and probably another week and a half depending on what they managed to steal from stores afterwards. By then, a market day would have to pop up sometime. Market days weren't usually too far apart during the winter, so they should be fine. The only real problem was the bitter cold.

"Fine," Jet assented. "But that still doesn't excuse the fact that we are going to freeze to death."

Aang frowned and returned Jet's glare with one of his own. "Could you not say 'freeze to death'? That's not funny, and it's not going to happen."

That seemed to have done the trick in terms of softening Jet's expression. At least now he looked apologetic as opposed to looking absolutely livid. Aang waited to see if he was going to say something in apology, but Jet just turned his head to look out of one of the windows in the room. Aang shrugged and moved himself to lean against the wall next to Jet. If he didn't want to talk anymore, then Aang wouldn't talk.

"So," Aang started conversationally. He picked up his staff from the floor and started running his fingers over the little kicks and cracks the weapon had gained over the years from repeated use. "When do you want to head home?"

"I don't know. I kind of don't want to go outside yet," Jet admitted quietly.

Aang nodded. "That's fine. I'm kind of tired anyway." They both seemed content with the decision and fell into a comfortable silence, Jet looking out the window and Aang fiddling with his bo staff.

They really didn't have anything else to do today now that they couldn't go back to the market. It wouldn't hurt to stay here for a bit since it was warmer than anywhere else they could afford to go. Neither felt like talking either, since any and all conversation would no doubt diverge from the topic and settle back on their current lack of supplies, a topic that neither wanted to touch for the sake of sanity. For now, taking a breather here was an enjoyable activity.

"Wanna play a game?" Jet asked after a few minutes.

Aang nodded and turned towards Jet. "Sure. What do you want to play?"

"Remember when we were kids and we used to imagine what our dream mansion would look like, and then we'd compete to see who's was cooler?"

Both boys laughed at the fond memories. Those were definitely simpler times, and Aang half remembered that the game had caused multiple scuffles because they were so competitive over the years. But at the very least, it was distracting and it passed the time rather quickly. To be honest, Aang didn't feel like doing anything substantial at the moment. He was tired in every sense of the word, and he just wanted to clear his head and relax. Then, he could worry and stress later.

"Alright," Aang offered. "You go first."

**OOO**

If Toph wanted to do anything to make up for all that boy had done for her today, this afternoon was the perfect time to do it if she had all her dates and times right.

She spent the entirety of her walk through the city planning out exactly how she could come up with a good enough form of compensation and at the same time make sure that it didn't get connected back to her. Knowing _him_, he wouldn't take a gift if he knew it came from her. However, the chances of him accepting such a peace offering would increase if a stranger gave it to him or if he managed to get it by accident or pure chance. Toph didn't care if he knew it came from her or not. The point was that he accepted it. If he did that, then maybe she could sleep at night, and these continuous thoughts of him and his well being would stop.

As Toph got closer and closer to her own neighborhood, the number of people around her quickly started to diminish. It only made it easier for her to sneak in and out of the neighborhood without seeming suspicious. After all, if anyone she knew caught wind of what she was doing, the results could be catastrophic. There would have to explanations topped on top of more explanations and that would never do.

In the distance, Toph saw a small square paved with cobblestones with a large fountain in the middle. Around the square were various benches, stone tables, and greenery decorating the area to make for a relaxing spot that people often came to for dates and casual outings. Because common people still came here to relax, Toph blended in well enough and no one would pay attention to the plain boots, the simple coat, and the less than exceptional cloak that she was carrying around in her arms. She wasn't dressed too lavishly, and she wasn't underdressed either. She blended in perfectly and didn't draw any attention, which is exactly how she liked it to be.

However, this normal façade she had put so much effort into would only work up to a certain point.

Past the square was where the neighborhood started to look particularly high class and cultured. The houses were bigger, there were lawns with grass, bushes, flowers, and trees, and the people walking around were also particularly rich. You could tell by the velvet cloaks, the animal-fur coats and gloves, the expensive hats and scarves, and the high quality winter boots on their feet. Sometimes, it amazed her how different this side of the city looked compared to the opposite side of the city that she had just come from. It was as if she had walked into a completely different city.

Toph tread carefully through this part of the city. She put her cloak back on and lifted the hood up as far as it could go. She made sure that her face was covered as much as possible and walked quickly towards her own home.

It wouldn't do well for people around here to see her dressed so casually. Admittedly she didn't care much for how she looked currently and she also didn't care whether people thought she looked homely. What she wanted to avoid was anyone giving her heat over it. If anyone of her mother's friends were walking around here and saw her dressed so plainly, they would start pestering her and then Toph would never hear the end of it.

Being an expert at sneaking around in places without being seen, Toph managed to walk behind houses, crouch behind shrubs, sneak behind trees, and take as many detours as was necessary in order to make sure that no one saw her. There didn't seem to be many people outside anyway. It was far too cold for people in this neighborhood to be walking around for leisure, and Toph was thankful for that. They wouldn't dare go outside for something that they probably already had or could manage to get in the comfort of their own home. However, there were still faces that she recognized walking around the streets, probably heading off to eat at an expensive restaurant in town for the afternoon.

She reached the end of the street and was soon met with a large gate leading to another part of the town. Past these gates led to the Gaoling mansions and estates. These were families that were almost just as rich as the King over at Ba Sing Se. They were the crème de la crème when it came to nobility. They were often led around on palanquins, had more servants than they knew what to do with, and had the money to hire tailors, chefs, tutors, and gardeners to do all of their work for them. They were practically worshipped by the citizens of the city and they held influence all over the country.

And this was unfortunately the life that Toph lived.

It was easier to sneak around in the estates. Walls and gates separated them all, and no one could really be spotted behind them unless you were intently looking. The rich folk that she had just passed were probably still willing to go out in the cold to enjoy themselves, but the high nobles that lived over here would never even dream of going out for walks anywhere else other than their gardens. Due to the bitter cold, they were probably curled up in their dens and sitting rooms in front of a roaring fire. The only time they really exited their homes was to go out of the city for a well-needed vacation.

After passing the fourth estate, she finally approached a bronze gate that she recognized. On the handles of the gate was the Bei Fong insignia, a beautiful rendition of a flying boar that had been a symbol of the family for centuries. There was a slight hesitation in her step when she approached the gates, so slight that she herself probably didn't really notice it. It was never a happy experience walking through these gates. But there was nothing much she could do, so Toph quietly pushed open the gates, slipped through to the other side, and shut them quietly behind her.

Goodbye, Toph. Hello, Miss Bei Fong.

She supposed that had she been anyone else, the sight of the gardens would have impressed her. Perfectly kept grass, flowers that her gardener had imported from the neighboring country, tall trees, and even a small little brook that ran underneath an old stone bridge. Her estate was surrounded by a tall stone wall, and up ahead she could see the large double doors that led into the foyer of her house. She looked up and saw the three story building that rose up above her head. From here, she could see the balcony of her room as well as her parents' room on completely separate sides of the house.

If Toph was correct, her parents should be having a lunch party with a family close by in another house and therefore wouldn't see her sneaking into her room. This would make her life incredibly easy and she could plan out everything today without a hitch.

Toph completely passed the front door and started walking around towards the back door which led to the servants' quarters and kitchens. Toph dug through the pockets of her coat and pulled out a silver key that she kept hidden on her at all times with a bronze chain. She slipped the key into the lock and entered the house without a sound.

The kitchens were empty and lunch wasn't for another hour, so the path to her room should be pretty straightforward. In the afternoon, the maids and servants cleaned the west wing of the house where her parents' room was. That meant that the east wing was completely free and she would be able to head straight to her room, get dressed, and meet her tailor who should be arriving in the next fifteen minutes. The only reason she wasn't invited to the lunch party was because Toph needed to be fitted for her winter wardrobe today.

Toph pulled off her gloves and cloak and carried them in her arms as she exited the kitchen and made her way into the dining room, past the sun room, through a long hallway of storage rooms, and finally into the main room.

She climbed the large staircase that was set right in the middle of the room and made it to the first landing. The stairs then curved left towards one side of the house and curved right towards the other side of the house. Toph immediately turned right and started walking through the long hallways, through double doors, until she reached a large oak door that led to her own bedroom. She quickly opened the door and silently shut it behind her in case anyone else was within ear shot and could here her and come and find her sneaking around when she shouldn't have been.

The girl sighed in relief and shed her coat and scarf and let it drop on her bed. She had about ten minutes before her tailor would let herself in and start fitting her for her new gowns and dresses and whatever other nonsense her mother felt like she needed to add to her daughter's already-crowded closet. Toph grimaced at the impending fate of having tape measures being wrapped around every single part of her body and being stuck with pins and swathed in all sorts of stuffy and irritating fabrics.

Toph entered her closet and looked around for a simple dress that she could wear simply to lounge around in her room. She searched for the gown that she was dressed in this morning and decided that that would be the best option. She located the simple emerald dress and took off the pants and tunic she had worn outside.

"As if I really need anything else added to this," she muttered hatefully as she stared at all of the clothing she had with her. "Anymore clothes and my closet will implode."

It wasn't as if she was unused to such luxuries. Her father owned emerald and sapphire mines all over the country and made enough money to put even the richest nobles to shame. Her mother was a huge public figure. In fact, she was the one who ordered the construction of the square she had passed on her way home and fixed up the city park for everyone else. Any other city projects that she felt were necessary were immediately planned and executed. Basically, her parents were loved, and they were rich for being successful and being loved. When she was born, she was plunged right smack in the middle of all of it. Being a part of the prestigious Bei Fong family was quite the honor. Or so everyone thought.

She supposed that such treatment wouldn't have been so bad if her parents would learn how to lighten up. It always seemed as if her parents never saw eye-to-eye on anything they discussed and things were therefore always strained between them.

Just the other day, she suggested to her mother if she could start leaving the house and looking around the city by herself. Her mother of course insisted that it was far too dangerous and she wasn't old enough to take such responsibility. That was when Toph snuck out the morning after and escaped over to Katara's house to complain about the injustice of it all. Toph always snuck out of her house without permission since her parents thought she wasn't ready to travel by herself. It would have been nice if they gave her permission to do what she wanted, but apparently such luxuries were too much for their pampered and sheltered daughter to handle.

It was why she was always careful when she went outside. If her parents knew she snuck out, they'd no doubt lock her in her room all day and never let her leave ever again. If anyone saw her sneaking around outside, the news would reach her parents and then the same thing would happen. The maids couldn't know, the servants couldn't know, and all hell would break loose if any of the commoners recognized her when she visited the town. It was exhausting and a lot of work, but at least she got the freedom she needed.

With a sigh, Toph pulled on her dress and sat by her window and picked a random book off of her bookshelf. She really didn't look at the title of the book, but started flipping through it and pretending that she was reading the book. She had already heard the door open and the maids greeting her tailor at the door. Toph sighed and balanced her chin in her hand. She really wasn't looking forward to this, but if she wanted to do something nice for Aang like she was planning to, this encounter was unfortunately necessary.

Toph licked her finger and casually turned another page in her book and rolled her eyes as the door to her bedroom was immediately opened unceremoniously without so much as a knock on the door.

"Hello, Miss Bei Fong!"

_Oh my god,_ Toph lamented. _Here we go. _

"Such a pleasure to see you're as happy as ever, Ty Lee." Toph hoped that the smile that she forced on her face was convincing enough to satisfy the young woman. At least she was good at faking mannerisms and bright demeanors for everyone around her. Clearly Ty Lee seemed to buy the act and smiled brightly with all of her teeth.

"Oh, it's an absolute _joy_ to come and visit you. I'm so excited when your mother told me to start getting your winter wardrobe together. I have _so_ many ideas for you, you're just going to love them!"

Out of anyone else's mouth, Toph was sure that the words would have sounded sarcastic. It was just the way she stressed certain words and the way she gesticulated along with the smile that took up half of her face. Every time she spoke, Toph felt like she needed to take a nap. But she supposed that she wasn't all that bad. A little annoying when she wanted to be, but she made good company. It was either Ty Lee or her parents. It wasn't exactly a difficult decision to make.

It was pure chance that she became the family's tailor. The family had vacationed to Ember Island for the summer and had happened to see a showcase of the girl's designs at an art showcase that was held every year for the tourists. Toph's mother seemed to take a liking to the line of clothing Ty Lee had created and started asking her all sorts of questions about the process and where her inspiration to design came from.

The conditions were almost picture perfect. Ty Lee used to be an acrobat at a traveling circus when she was younger, but the business fell through a while ago and she was hoping to find some decent money selling her designs at Ember Island. She used to help her fellow circus mates with their costumes and make up, so she was rather skilled when it came to tailoring. Toph's mother offered her a job as the family's personal tailor as well as a more than decent salary, and the young woman said yes immediately. Toph supposed that her mother could have found someone worse, and she had to admit that the girl was sweet at the very least.

Toph put down her book and walked to the little stage that Ty Lee had rolled in with her along with tape measures, pins, and swatches of different types of fabric. "Alright, let's get this over with."

Ty Lee giggled. "Aw, you seem like you're in a bad mood today," she teased. "Is something bothering you?"

The noble shrugged her shoulders and allowed Ty Lee to walk behind her and undo the clasps on the back of her gown. "Nah. Today just didn't go exactly like I hoped it would. It's no big deal."

The dress fell off of her shoulders and Toph was left standing in nothing but a light chemise that she wore under her dresses. Ty Lee instructed her to lift her arms for measurements and Toph did so obediently. Toph mentally prepared herself for the fitting that would no doubt take over an hour if she was lucky. But it was better that she got it over with sooner rather than later.

"I can imagine," Ty Lee lamented quietly. "You always look so depressed whenever I come to see you. You were reading that book earlier with such a sad look on your face."

"It's not as bad as you think." Toph smirked to herself suddenly so that Ty Lee couldn't see. "I find ways to keep myself occupied."

"Well that's good to hear," Ty Lee smiled and stretched the tape measure along the length of Toph's arm. "I'd hate to hear that you were just sitting cooped up in your room all day."

It wasn't as if Toph hadn't done it before. On the days where the weather was too awful to go outside, Toph was forced to stay indoors and just stare out the windows all day and occupy herself with whatever she managed to have in her room.

It was another reason why she liked going outside so much. She had been sneaking out of her house ever since she was twelve years old simply because she felt that the lavish mansion she lived in was more like a prison that her parents kept her in rather than a home. Her parents didn't like the idea of her mingling with commoners. They felt it was too dangerous and too demeaning to be exposed to such a 'base culture.'

There were so many things that she could occupy herself with. Her parents were almost never home, and that left her ample opportunity to sneak past the servants and disguise herself in suitable garb to blend into the city. Sometimes, she stopped by tea shops and bakeries for some pastries and warm beverages. One particular tea shop owner always set her up with piles and piles of books that she was allowed to keep that definitely kept her busy on the days where she couldn't go out. Even market days were great when she could buy a bauble or two for herself. Although, she did admit, it would be best to stay away from market days for a while. There was no need for a repeat of today.

Ty Lee sensed the dejection that seeped from Toph whenever she found her stuck in her room during their visits, and the noble was almost a little annoyed that the girl was able to see through her so well. But aside from Katara, Ty Lee was one of Toph's few friends. Granted she couldn't trust Ty Lee to keep her mouth shut about Toph's escapes from her house and made sure to keep that a secret, but Ty Lee was excellent company. Sometimes, the excess peppiness was what she needed after a long day.

"Can I ask you something?" The tape measure moved from her arms to wrap around her bust, waist, and hips shortly afterward.

"Of course," Ty Lee answered, her tongue poking out of the corner of her lips with her face set in deep concentration. She was mentally keeping the measurements in her head the more she progressed. "What's your question?"

Toph bit her lip and tried to formulate her words as best she could without trying to sound suspicious. "It isn't exactly a question. It's more like a favor."

Toph could have laughed at the look of curiosity that flashed across the girl's eyes. "Ooh, a favor? What sort of favor? Anything I can do, I'll be glad to help you."

"Well," Toph started, quickly working her mind in order to come up with a decent excuse that would justify what she was asking Ty Lee for. "My father has a friend who lives up North and he was going to be leaving for a week to discuss business with him in a calmer setting that over here in the city. If he manages to impress this friend of his, we could extend our emerald and sapphire exports further North to other countries. So this is pretty important."

"Oh really?" the tailor gasped in delight. "That's so exciting! I hope everything goes well with him."

Toph rolled her eyes when Ty Lee wasn't looking. Her father did not like cold weather in the least. He probably would have preferred walking around in the slums of Gaoling than vacationing somewhere so cold. But this was the only story she could come up with at the moment.

"He's going to be leaving in a couple of days and it's rather urgent that he gets all of the coats, scarves, and gloves he asked for as soon as possible so that he can leave right away."

It was a complete lie. The only reason Ty Lee made new coats for Master Bei Fong was because Lady Bei Fong insisted. Toph's father liked his old coats that he had had for years and never asked for new ones. So if Toph managed to intercept these brand new coats, they wouldn't be missed.

Ty Lee bit her lip and stepped away from Toph for a moment to look over Toph again quickly before walking to measure the distance from Toph's waist to the floor. "His wardrobe is practically done already," Ty Lee explained. "All I need to do are add a few finishing touches and I can bring them over for you tomorrow."

Toph's eyes widened and couldn't help but grin. "Really? That quickly. Ty Lee, you are pretty awesome sometimes, you know that?"

The young woman smiled and did a slight bow. "Oh, why thank you! I appreciate the comment especially coming from you." Ty Lee started holding up various shades of green fabrics to Toph's skin in an attempt to match her skin tone perfectly and at the same time get a proper winter style for the young girl.

"My father won't be home tomorrow." _Thank goodness, otherwise this won't work_, she thought. "If you leave them with me, I'll be sure to tell him that they came straight from you." She watched Ty Lee consider her words as she started sifting through all of the samples that she brought with her. She finally nodded and looked up.

"I think that'll be fine. Make sure you tell your father that he has a good time, alright?"

Toph smirked. "Don't worry, I'll be sure to tell him for you."

The rest of the visit went by surprisingly quickly now that Ty Lee was questioning her about this mysterious, yet fake, friend of her father's. Toph found it rather entertaining and stimulating to come out with story after story and fed them to Ty Lee in order to keep her plan in order. She was barely listening as Ty Lee described all of the designs and outfits she had planned and simply nodded in agreement with whatever Ty Lee said.

Her mind was working on a completely separate wavelength than Ty Lee's was. Her focus was on that infuriatingly fascinating boy that she couldn't seem to get out of her mind. She swore to herself that she was going to help him, and she was sure that this was going to work out. At the very least, she would help him out in ways that he wouldn't have thought imaginable.

It wasn't usually her style to go so much out her way for someone else. But for some reason, she felt oddly determined about this. And she wasn't about to let all of that raw determination go to waste.

**OOO**

_**A/N:**__ This was written quickly as I have a busy schedule this week, so apologies if that was reflected in the writing. But thank you all for the reviews, favorites, and alerts. And even if you're just reading, thank you again. Tune in next time~!_


	8. Favors

_**A/N:**__ Ugh. I'm hating college right now. It's a leech sucking me dry of my money, my sleep, my time, and my sanity…yet I'm still here. I must be masochistic or stupid. I feel like I'm failing you all in terms of updating. Just know that I really am trying and I am fully dedicated to this story. I love it too much to let it go. _

**OOO**

**Chapter 8**

**Favors**

**OOO**

True to Ty Lee's word, a large pile of thick coats was brought up to Toph's quarters the very next day. The maid that had brought them up had said that Ty Lee had to run off suddenly, but that everything her father needed should be in order. Toph made a mental note to thank Ty Lee properly for such a favor later, and sent the maid away before shutting her door and laying out the coats on her bed.

The good thing about her father was that he was the complete opposite of her mother when it came to material items. Toph's mother enjoyed high quality and rarity. She insisted upon the most expensive items she could get her hands on, to the point where she was rather pretentious about it. She could imagine what her mother's winter wardrobe looked like: lace, animal fur, satin interior, and embroideries that could only be done by select experts.

Her father on the other hand had a preference for quiet refinement, and it showed in the coats that she had just been given. His coats had no elaborate designs, no overly expensive materials, and no frills on the outside. In rich society, many would consider it quite plain, but it seemed perfect for Aang. Inconspicuous and subtle. Sure they were made out of velvet and were arguably still expensive looking in that respect, but she had seen many expensive things being sold in the market yesterday, so she imagined a person like Aang obtaining such materials wouldn't be suspicious.

All in all, it was a perfect plan. No one would think it strange, and Aang would be covered for the winter and then some. There were even enough for his friend to have as well.

"Now how do I get it to him…?" she thought out loud. She didn't even know where Aang lived or where she could even find him. The city was huge, and there were thousands of places he could be. She entertained the idea of hanging around the stores to see if he would show up to steal something, but something told her that spending the days outside with nothing to wear wasn't on the top of his list. That meant that he could basically be anywhere.

Toph's hopes deflated suddenly and she looked miserably down at the coats. Her plan wasn't really much of a plan if she couldn't deliver the coats to him. She hadn't thought that far ahead, and unfortunately it didn't seem like this would be easy.

She raked a hand through her hair. Why didn't she think to contemplate how in the world she was going to get these to him? She wasn't normally this careless, so what the hell was she thinking?

_Maybe you were too busy worrying over him to think your plan through properly,_ she thought bitterly. A light blush painted across her cheeks at the thought. She could have denied it, but then she would be a liar.

The only other people that she knew who also knew Aang were Katara and Sokka. She could probably give the coats to Katara and ask her to deliver them to Aang. There was a chance that she had a better sense of where Aang could possibly be. Then all Toph had to do was tell Katara to just leave the coats with him secretly. Aang won't know whom the present came from, Toph's conscious would be cleared, and they never had to run into each other again.

Toph nodded. Conceptually, it was a good idea. However, there seemed to be one fatal flaw in this brilliant last minute plan of hers, and it just so happened to be situated downstairs in this very house.

The heiress opened the door to her room and strained her ears to hear the commotion coming in from the rest of the house. So far, it was quiet and nothing seemed to be stirring in the hallways. No servants, no maids, no nothing. The girl took this as a good sign and carefully slipped out of her bedroom. In her pocket was the key to her bedroom, which she used to lock the door behind her. If anyone came in and saw what was lying out on her bed, questions would be asked.

It was still rather early in the morning, so the hallways were lit with dull, grey, early morning light. Toph glanced out of the large windows in the hallway briefly and saw that the sky was rather cloudy this morning. The idea of a cold and rainy day did not lift her spirits. She was already hugging her sleeping robe closer to her body due to the chill that ran through the house. Imagine how cold it must have been outside! No doubt that the rain would turn to ice making for a rather disgusting day.

But she had promised she would do this for him. Toph could handle a few slippery and wet roads for his sake.

After traversing through the right side of the house, she made her way back into the main room. She sneezed suddenly due to the cold and sniffled quietly. She was starting to wonder whether the fireplaces were even lit. If they were, it must have been _brutal_ out there. That was one thing she could say about this city. When winter came, it came quickly. One day there would be nice fall weather, and the next day you would think that you walked straight into a frozen tundra.

She kept walking through the house, wishing that she hadn't walked out barefoot since she couldn't feel her toes. Toph turned down the long, dimly lit hallway that was filled with storage rooms. Her feet shuffled along the tiled floors and walked towards the patch of grey light that was at the end of the hall. She reached the end of the hall, peeked into the sun room, and groaned inwardly.

Sitting there at the tea table that was set up against the dozens of windows installed in the room, Lord and Lady Bei Fong were enjoying a cup of morning tea, conversing quietly about their morning.

Toph sucked her teeth and ducked back into the hallway. She sort of hoped they had something to do this morning, but now that they were sitting right there a problem arose. The only way she was going to get these coats to Katara was if she took them to Katara herself. That meant she had to sneak out of the house.

She looked again at the couple, this time her mother was laughing quietly at whatever her husband had just said.

_How in the hell am I going to do this?_ she thought desperately.

Sneaking out the front door was absolutely out of the question. It was old and heavy and made a large groaning noise when it was opened. Toph could hear the door open from her room, which meant that her parents would have no trouble hearing it from the sun room since it was so close to the main room. She could only get to the back door by going through the sun room, so that was obviously not an option either.

She thought back to all of her past escapades for any sort of inspiration. There was one other way she could sneak out of the house, but she hadn't done it in a while.

Her balcony had small stone pillars that acted as guards to keep people from falling. But one pillar in particular was loose. She often pried the pillar loose, tied a rope around the railing of the balcony, and lowered herself down into the garden. She would then use the trees and bushes as camouflage to make it towards the gate. She had managed to widen the gap between two bars of the front gate just enough so that she could slip through and escape the house.

She only did this when her parents were home. It was a pain to have to go through all of that, especially scaling down her balcony like she was a cat burglar or something. But that was the only way she could think of getting out here without being found out. It seemed like it would work although she really wasn't looking forward to the extra exertion.

But she needed to keep her parents from coming into her room.

After all, seeing your daughter missing was bad enough. But if they saw the open balcony window and the rope hanging down from it, there were only so many stories that Toph could come up with to justify that as being innocent fun.

The clinking of tea cups caused Toph to snap her head back to the scene in time to see her parents handing their saucers over to one of the servants form the kitchen. Another servant came through the archway leading to the kitchen, this time carrying a large platter holding two plates of breakfast for the Lord and Lady. She couldn't see what exactly the dish was from where she was standing, but the aroma definitely carried over to the hallway, reminding Toph that she should be in there right now having breakfast instead of planning an escape. But if she started to sit down, eat, and converse, she would be delayed even longer, and she couldn't afford any lost time this morning. As it was, hiding in the shadows wasn't solving any of her problems.

Lady Bei Fong picked up a knife and fork and delicately cut into the food on her plate, being careful not to let the knife scratch against the china. "It's rather late in the afternoon, don't you think?"

As soon as his plate was placed in front of him, Toph's father immediately picked up his knife and started cutting into his breakfast and bringing morsels into his mouth as quickly as he could without seeming rude or unmannered. He chewed and swallowed quickly before digging further into his meal.

Toph's mother immediately caught onto the odd behavior. "For goodness's sake, slow down. You'll make yourself sick, eating that quickly."

Lord Bei Fong lowered his utensils slightly and looked up at his wife for a moment. "I'll be perfectly fine," he smiled politely. "I just need to get back to work as soon as I can. There are a lot of matters piling up that I need to attend to."

"All of those letters you need to sort through will be there all day," her mother reasoned. "There's no need to eat as if it'll be your last one for a month, Lao."

Toph could tell that her father was resisting the urge to roll his eyes at his wife and tell her that she didn't understand what it was like to have to deal with business affairs, but he bit back the comment. "Very well. Although my eating more slowly won't prevent me from going back to my work any faster, I hope you know."

Lady Bei Fong sighed and shook her head in a reprimanding manner, lifting a glass of water to her lips. "I suppose not, though I wish you would consider taking a bit of a break from that study of yours. Soon your vision will go bad from staring at papers all day and you'll wind up with a hunch in your back."

"It'll take a lot more than working in my office for a few hours a day to cause that kind of damage, dear," her father replied blandly.

Toph rolled her eyes and pressed her back against the wall. It annoyed Toph that even when she wasn't around, her parents acted so polite and formal even to each other. She would have thought that because they thought they were alone, their conversation would be a little more intimate or at the very least not sound as if they had rehearsed it before hand. But she supposed that was too much to ask from them. It was as if they struggled to come up with something to say, their postures were so rigid and uncomfortable, and the silences that stretched after they spoke were too awkward to be coincidental. It was the reason why meals were highly unfavorable affairs for all three of them. While her parents were insufferable, they were at least tolerable to a degree when she spoke to them separately. But she supposed that meals would always be quiet affairs whenever the two of them sat together at the table.

Then again, with their marriage, Toph wasn't surprised. But, the thought was quickly dismissed. That was a whole other issue that Toph didn't want to deal with at the moment.

Her mother took another small sip of her tea. "As I was saying before, it's already so late. Don't you find it strange?"

Her father lifted a brow and swallowed another mouthful of food. "Well you have been up for a few hours and it isn't as if time has stopped suddenly. So I don't see why it being late in the day is so peculiar."

"That isn't what I mean," she retorted. "Toph hasn't come downstairs yet." Usually, the girl was known for sleeping in often. She was the last one in the house to come downstairs and have breakfast and it always took a lot of coaxing and convincing to get her dressed in the mornings. However, she always made it to meals. The fact that they were both eating alone this morning was a little unsettling.

Her father raised a brow and looked curiously toward the doorway. "Maybe she overslept."

"Well that can't do." Lady Bei Fong turned towards the doorway with a stern gaze, almost as if she were expecting Toph to come downstairs any minute so that she could scold her for being tardy. "Honestly, she's almost seventeen. If she can't even get up on her own, then there's no hope for her."

Sensing the lecture that was about to come from the mention of their daughter, Toph's father attempted to turn the conversation elsewhere. "She's probably tired from all of the extra studying you've been having her do. Just enjoy your breakfast."

But his wife was hearing none of it. Her breakfast was abandoned in exchange for drumming her nails against the wooden tabletop and sighing in exasperation. "We both know that's a lie. It isn't as if she's staying up all night completing all of her tutor's work. It isn't enough to stay in bed all day for."

Toph shifted her feet uncomfortable once she realized that the conversation was quickly zeroing in on her. It seemed as though conversations like these occurred often, because her father didn't seem to have to think much in order to come up with a quick response. He simply kept eating and muttered in a comment in between bites.

"Not everyone is you, dear," he said carefully. If his tone of voice was just a little off, she may take this entire conversation the wrong way. "Besides, I think having five hours of tutoring every day is a little bit much. What with her regular studies, flute lessons, art lessons, calligraphy lessons, dance lessons—"

"I hardly think that you are one to talk, Lao," Toph's mother quickly shot back. "You make it sound as if you are not completely involved in our daughter's life."

Her father dropped his fork and pointed an accusatory finger at her, since pointing at people with utensils was rude. "I keep her safe from harm. Attacking her with every tutor you can get your hands on is ridiculous."

Her mother sighed and pushed her plate away from her. She called to the kitchen and asked that her plate be taken away and that her cup be refilled. Her shoulders slumped slightly and looked down at her hands folded in her lap.

"It's not an attack. It's properly preparing her. There's nothing wrong with covering all bases when it comes to her education. She'll thank me for it when she gets older, just like she'll thank the both of us for not allowing her to explore the city like she wants to." At the mention of this, she scoffed as her plate was removed from in front of her and her tea cup was filled again. "Though I'll never understand why she would want to traverse the slums like she was a little commoner."

Lao Bei Fong seemed to have finally found something that he could agree with his wife on as he nodded knowingly. "Not only that, but can you imagine the trouble she could get into what with all of the riff raffs running around in that part of the city. It amazes me how much she fights us for the opportunity. I didn't see you or I attempting anything like that when we were her age."

Lao's wife chuckled in between sips of her tea. "I agree. It makes me wonder where she gets it from."

The conversation turned into a mutual rant about the strange habits of their daughter. It seemed as though they wouldn't be letting up on the topic for a while, so Toph allowed herself to slide down the wall of the hallway and sit on the floor. It was uncomfortable how the only thing they could speak civilly about was how strange they thought she was. They called her out on practically everything she did: wanting to visit the city, not wanting to sit down and have tea with their neighbors, not sharing her mother's taste in lavish clothing, and not immediately jumping on the opportunity to shop for jewels and accessories whenever it was offered to her. They spoke of her as if she had this chronic disease, or as if she was in need of an intervention. And it was done so casually that it made Toph sick just listening to it.

Toph was tempted to just escape from the hallway, walk out the front door, and deal with the consequences afterwards. Hell, with the way they were going on, they probably wouldn't even notice. But of course, it was a ridiculous idea. She needed to think of a way to get them to leave her alone for the day, at least for a couple of hours. Then her hands would be cleaned.

A chill ran through Toph's spine and she was suddenly reminded how underdressed she was at the moment, donning only her night chemise and a thin, dark robe. She felt a sneeze coming on and quickly held her nose shut so as to prevent herself from making any noise that would reveal her position. She must not have noticed it before, but she was starting to feel a head cold coming on. Maybe it was because she was out in the freezing cold the day she ran into Aang. She did walk home without a cloak the whole way home. Plus, she half remembered forgetting to shut the window to her bedroom the other night. She quietly sniffled and stood on the floor, thinking out what she could do next.

Toph held back another sneeze, and then smirked when an idea came to her. She flipped her head upside down and messed up her hair as much as she could so that it was sticking up at odd angles from her scalp. She pinched her nose until it was red so that it looked like she was blowing her nose all morning and tightened her robe around her waist. She faked a loud cough and then walked into the sun room.

She couldn't describe the expressions on her parents' faces when she walked in. At first, it looked like they were about to berate her for coming down so late. Then it switched into shock—maybe guilt, which probably had to do with their previous conversation and whether or not she had overheard it. They held that gaze for a moment and looked at each other warily, like they were two children who had just gotten caught stealing candy out of the cupboards. Toph suppressed the desire to roll her eyes and glare at the two of them, but instead faked another loud cough. Only then did they notice her disheveled appearance and stood up from their seats in worry.

Her mother rushed over to her and placed both hands on her shoulder. "Oh, goodness Toph! What on Earth happened to you? You look terrible!"

Toph crossed her arms and shivered. "I feel a little dizzy," she drawled. "Plus it's freezing in here."

Her mother tsked. "Well, no wonder. You're out in nothing but your nightgown." She started placing the backs of her hands against the skin on Toph's face. "Oh you poor thing, you must be sick, you're face is so hot."

_Really?_ She thought. Her acting couldn't have been that good. Chances are it was her mother just trying to act concerned to cover up what she had just finished saying about her own daughter. She didn't feel sick.

Lao rounded the table, his face laced with concern. "Sick? She hasn't left the house."

Toph winced at the statement.

But her mother waved off the comment and frowned. "It's not about whether or not she was outside. Maybe one of her servants is sick."

Toph coughed again and sniffled. She tried to make her voice sound as nasally as possible and replied. "Well…I _may _have…slept with the window open…?"

Lady Bei Fong immediately rolled her eyes and ushered her daughter towards the door, her husband following close behind. The leftovers from breakfast were forgotten and a couple of young servants quickly and quietly cleared the mess as the trio left the sun room and made their way towards the main hall.

"I don't know how many times I have to explain this to you, Toph," her mother scolded. She was still shoving her daughter down the hall, and Toph had to suppress the urge to roll her eyes. "It's winter time. The draft almost definitely made you sick. How could you be so irresponsible?"

Toph closed her eyes. She didn't have to fake the headache coming on. "I was out on the balcony for a little bit and I forgot to close it," she answered honestly. It was a habit that she had. She always kept the window cracked open during the warm season. Something about having a nice refreshing breeze drift through her room comforted her. But she must have been so distracted last night that she forgot exactly how cold it was outside. She mentally kicked herself. Thinking back, she must have really been senile to forget to close it. She was losing her mind.

"Maybe I should call for a doctor," Lao thought out loud.

Toph's eyes widened and her head snapped to look behind her. "No!" Lao shot her a wary look and Toph's mother gripped her shoulders tightly, staring at her face and trying to gauge what was the matter. "No doctors," Toph continued a little more calmly. "I'm not that sick. It's just a cold. All I need is a little rest."

"Are you sure?" her mother asked. "You felt a little hot when I touched you earlier."

Toph shook her head and shrugged her mother's hands off of her shoulders. She walked towards the main staircase and looked back as she walked. "It was probably your imagination." She sneezed for good measure before continuing. "I just need to sleep a little more. If I'm left alone for the rest of the day I think I'll be fine."

Lao seemed appeased by the suggestion, but then again he was like her and had never been one to care much for his healthy. He seemed content with the fact that it was just a little cold. Her mother however—worrywart that she was—was still not pleased with the sudden turn of events.

"I want someone checking in on you every hour," her mother insisted, already snapping her head around for someone to order. "You should be drinking tea, I want you bundled up tight, and I'm cancelling all of your lessons."

Toph raised an eyebrow. All of a sudden her mother was acting so concerned when she was complaining about how abnormal she was not two minutes before.

_Two-faced, I swear_, she thought.

Her father sighed and decided to assess his daughter's healthy for himself. He placed the back of his hands against her cheeks and held her at arms length, searching her face for any further diagnosis. He rolled his eyes and let Toph go.

"She feels a little warm, and she looks flushed," her father observed, "but that's no reason to be having someone check in on her. It looks like nothing more than a common cold. There's no need to be so dramatic over this."

"How do you mean dramatic?" her mother asked.

"All she needs is sufficient rest. She can't get that if you're constantly pestering her, now can she?" Her father was falling back into the habit of talking for other people, but as long as it was helping get Toph out of this house, the young heiress was not even attempting to complain.

Lady Bei Fong huffed at the seemingly ludicrous suggestion, but then looked at her daughter once more. All kidding aside, Toph was shivering in her thin night clothes and she was afraid that the sneezing and coughing was starting to become less and less of an act. She only hoped that she didn't seem too sick and that her parents would leave her alone for the rest of the day while under the pretense of getting some much needed rest.

Her mother looked about ready to argue, but there was another spark of tension between the couple that Toph had also sensed earlier. The two adults shared a look. Lao's eyebrows lifted slightly and his head was tilted slightly to the side, almost as if he were quietly daring her to challenge him in a decision. His wife, however, tightened her lips and lifted her chin higher so that her face was lifted as high and as straight as she could hold it. Toph stared between the two nobles and hoped that her father actually one this little disagreement.

Lady Bei Fong was the first to tremble under the pressure of her husband's challenge. Her gaze faltered, and she started to bite her lip slightly. Finally, as if she were heaving a great load of stones off of her back, she sighed and nodded to her daughter.

"Fine. I'll let the servants know that you need rest and that they shouldn't bother you. But you're only napping until lunch. After that, you are going to be cared for completely until you're better. You have a lot that needs to be done, and you being sick is quite the inconvenience."

"Your mother is right, Toph," her father explained, now starting to take her mother's side again. He looked at the large clock in the main room and clicked his tongue once he realized what time it was. "You need to take proper care of yourself. Be careful about that window next time, yes?" he added tiredly.

Toph bit her tongue and held back the comment she desperately wanted to make public. But instead she bowed her head slightly and promised that she wouldn't do anything of the sort again. She waited there on the frigid steps and waited until her father had decided that he had lectured enough and waved for her to run upstairs and rest. She smiled and turned on her heel towards her bedroom again.

She had to remind herself that the hallways echoed as she trudged back through the hallways to her room. No yelling, no stomping, no cursing, not even muttering. She had to stay composed and still pretend like she was sick. It wasn't until she reached her room that she finally saw it fit to let out her frustration. She grabbed the object closest to her—a glass figurine of a lily—and flung it towards the opposite wall. It made contact and immediately shattered into small beads of crystal all over her carpet. The sound of the glass breaking echoed through the room and mingled with her harsh breathing. Toph turned and kicked the bottom of her door before plunging into her closet.

"An 'inconvenience,' huh?" she muttered hatefully. "Was I getting in the way of your quality time with your dull, wooden desk, huh Dad?" She dug into the very back of her closet and pulled out her plain clothes that she used to go outside. They were collected into a disorganized heap in her arms and dropped unceremoniously on her bed. She dropped to her knees and started feeling around under her bed.

"And poor, poor, Mom," Toph continued, "has to go through the trouble of informing all the tutors to say that her daughter is not seeing anyone today. How _absolutely terrible_ that she would have to lift a finger and _cancel!_"

Something about her parents always riled her up. In fact, their daily interaction would follow a concrete formula: she would speak to them, the conversation would remain dull, they would wave her off and say something stupid, she would get upset, and then she would sneak out to clear her head. It happened every single time, and this encounter with them just proved how predictable their relationship was, if one could even call it that. It was always like this though: they were probably too busy to bother with her for too long, and they were probably annoyed that they had to inconvenience so many people just because she was feeling a little under the weather.

It was simple: just get better so that they wouldn't have to deal with any drama and complications. That's what their relationship had been reduced to.

More hateful thoughts started filling her head, and she decided that it was no use dwelling on them at the moment when she was on a time limit. Toph emerged pulling out a large case filled with boxes and wrapping papers from old presents she had gotten over the years. She recognized some of them and the occasions: Christmas, Birthday's, Half-Birthday's, Just-Because-We Felt-Like-It presents, and a few condolence presents she had received when some snotty old geezer from her family that she didn't particularly care for happened to die suddenly.

The plainest box she could find was a dark blue box wrapped up in a simple white ribbon. If she folded the coats right, they would just fit in the box. She pulled it out from under the bed along with a pair of black winter boots that she hid under there as well. Everything else was shoved back underneath.

Footsteps sounded from outside, and Toph quickly realized that it was probably her parents coming to check on her. She darted to the door and made sure that it was locked. They could still come in with their own keys, but at least it would deter them for the moment. Toph didn't stop getting ready as she threw on a loose pair of black wool slacks, a long sleeved green sweater, and her long coat. She was wrapping a scarf around her neck and reaching out for her boots at the same time when she heard the doorknob jiggle. A sigh was heard through the door, before the visitor started knocking.

Toph used her sick voice again. "Who is it?" she moaned loudly.

"Are you alright, Miss Bei Fong?" _Thank goodness. It's just a maid._ "Your parents wanted me to bring you up some tea?"

Toph rolled her eyes and started pulling on her boots. "Just leave it by the door, I'll come and get it in a second."

She heard the clatter of the tea tray outside her door and the retreating steps of the maid. She sincerely hoped that no one else came up while she was gone to give her more tea or something like that. Toph quickly opened the door and pulled in the tray of tea that was brought up. She left it on her bedside table and simply ignored it. Besides, from the smell she could tell that it was oolong tea, and she hated that tea anyway.

Feeling a lot better wrapped up in warm clothes, she started packing away the coats as best she could in the box that she had found. While she did this, she happened a look at the time and started doing the usual calculations in her head: how long would it take her to get where she was going? How long would it take her to get back? When did she need to get back? How much time could she afford wasting in between? If she was even a minute off, someone might come upstairs at lunch to fetch her, and then discover that she isn't in her room. It wouldn't take long for the large staff of maids and servants to search the rest of the house and confirm that she wasn't home. Then she would _really_ have to start praying.

She double-checked the door to her room to make sure that it was locked, blew out all the lamps in her room, and grabbed her black cloak. She pulled on the hood and tucked the package underneath her arm as she opened the door the balcony and stepped outside.

"Oh, S-Spirits, it's _c-c-cold!_"

The wind and the rain outside was helping it feel colder than it probably was in reality. The rain hitting her face felt like needles against her skin and the wind was chilling her damp clothing further. She was thankful for the thick boots on her feet, otherwise she would be slipping and falling once she reached the ground. Looking down at the garden path, she could already see the mini river flowing down the path.

Toph was tempted to go back inside and wait until tomorrow for her to deliver the present. But she shook her head at the thought. She wouldn't get a chance like this again, and Aang needed these coats in case of weather precisely like this. A violent shiver shook her body, but she ignored the chill seeping into her skin and set to work.

Toph kneeled down and pried the loose pillar out of the balcony. A large space was opened up large enough for her to slip through. She tipped the pillar over and held it upside down. The pillar was hollowed out, and Toph was able to reach inside and pull out a rope long enough for the job she needed done. The pillar was pushed off to the side and Toph began to tie the rope around the banister, using a combination of the most complicated and haphazard knots she could think of so that she wouldn't fall. It took longer than usual due to her shaking and trembling hands, but she eventually got the rope tied.

She tugged and checked the knots one more time before tucking the package closer to her body and slipping through the gap in the balcony. Before she lowered herself, she pulled out form her pocket a pair of warm gloves that had a good grip to help her hang onto the rope. Toph let her feet drop over the edge and lean against the building. Then, as slowly and as carefully as she could manage, she pushed off the house and lowered herself down the wall. She repeated the process and continued to scale down the building one foot at a time.

It was thanks to the experience she had in doing this task that she managed to get down to the ground without falling. She had slipped a couple of times when her foot slipped against the wet, slick surface of the house, but she had managed to get down without hurting herself and, more importantly, without damaging the package she was clinging to.

The cover of the rain made it so that Toph didn't need to hide behind the greenery and could just run straight towards the gates of the estate. She was careful to avoid the guards who were still walking around the grounds, holding up lanterns to see through the thick rain. It was amazing that is was this dark out, yet it was still early in the morning.

Toph reached the gates of the estate and quickly located the two bars that were pulled apart. She twisted her body so that she was able to slip through without a sound. She gripped the package under her cloak with both arms and started running down the path towards the town. Thankfully, no one was outside to question her and ask her where she was going. She figured that no one—not even the regular people in the town—would be dumb enough to be outside in this weather.

Well, no one save for herself.

As she navigated through the cold, set streets, she wondered if what she was doing was sane at all. She could get sick, she could get lost, she might lose the package, and worst of all she might be found out by her parents. She was right: the whole plan was stupid, especially with the dangerous weather added into the mix. She knew that Aang needed the help and deserved it as well. But she had never been this cold in her life, she was too distracted to remember an umbrella so that she wouldn't have gotten soaked, and she only just realized exactly how far she needed to walk in order to make it to Katara's house to drop off the package.

All of these would have been enough to convince anyone to go home and forgo the mission presented to them. Everyone except for her, apparently. And it made her wonder—again—why she was going through all of the trouble for this one boy who she didn't even like. She was complaining, yet she wasn't stopping. Why? Why was this so important for her?

It took her an excruciatingly long twenty minutes to trudge through empty streets and locate Katara's house. By now, the rain had stopped and the sky wasn't so dark anymore. A few people were walking through the streets clutching coats to their bodies. They were all giving Toph strange looks as they took in her soaked ensemble, but she paid them no mind.

The only thing she was staring at was the warm light coming from Katara's window, and Toph couldn't help but sigh in relief at the sight. She pulled out the unharmed package from underneath her cloak and walked up the steps to Katara's front door.

**OOO**

The last couple of days for the two boys were—without any exaggeration—mind-numbingly boring.

During the winter, Jet always moved in with Aang. The small building that he called home was extremely run down—more so than Aang's—and often got far too cold to sleep in. The holes in the walls and ceilings, the roof that had a tendency to leak, and the broken windows only added to the frigid temperatures. So the boys made a silent agreement that Aang's home would be the better place to be when the weather got too intense.

Normally, the winter was great for the two of them. Ever since they were boys, they treated the winter like one long sleepover. They each lived so far away from each other that meeting up for something as simple as hanging out for the day was never an option. When they did meet up, it was always for serious business such as getting food and clothes. At least now, they had time to just be a couple of teenage boys.

Or at least they thought they did.

They kept their promise and decided that leaving the house wasn't allowed unless it was absolutely necessary. Jet had carried over the few lanterns that he kept at his house to warm up Aang's room as much as they could. The windows were kept shut tight and they used the blankets that Jet had found two days ago to wrap themselves up and keep them warmer. Another pile of quilts was made in the room for Jet to sleep and all of the food they had collected between the two of them was kept on the table Aang kept in the room.

The only problem with the entire set up was that they were so used to going outside and doing _something_. But this was the first time in a long time that they didn't have thick sweaters and jackets at their disposal. Now their days were filled with nothing but sitting inside and doing nothing.

Aang would pass hours reading the many books he had around his room. Jet would sometimes entertain himself with one for ten minutes or so, but would abandon it in favor of messing with his knife collection that he always brought over. He would use a wall for target practice and start throwing knives, and for hours the only noises that could be heard in the room was the thud of knives impaling the wall and the soft crinkle of paper every time Aang turned a page. When that got boring, they would talk for the rest of the night.

Aside from that, there wasn't much for them to do. The desire to go outside, stretch their legs, and do something other than sitting around all day was far too great. One time, Jet had thought that he would do just that and go outside for only a few minutes. But the moment he opened the door and felt the wind whip against his face, the idea was quickly forgotten.

It had only been two days, and the boys were wondering whether they could last the week before they started banging their heads against the wall for a bit of entertainment.

The two boys would huddle in front of Aang's large window for only a few minutes each day and taking advantage of the great view. While the large avenue that normally was very busy on market days wasn't visible from Aang's window, there was a faint visual of the gates of the city. If there really was a market day coming soon, then surely a plethora of carts and carriages would be filing into the city. The two of them knew in the back of their minds that the likelihood of such a procession was abnormally low. If they were lucky, one would come only at the end of the week, and even that sentiment alone was looking more and more like wishful thinking as the days wore on. Needless to say that life had been veering towards hopeless.

Jet was currently asleep in the corner of the room, snoring quietly with his arm draped over his eyes. He was dressed in every single sweater he had ever owned and was bundled up with multiple blankets and quilts in order to keep him warm. That left Aang a time of peace and quiet where he could sit at the table in his room and catch up on reading. There had been an abnormal amount of excitement lately and he couldn't remember the last time he had simply sat down and enjoyed the silent pleasure that reading a good novel gave him.

Also, it was a relief to be able to read a book without Jet teasing him for trying to be all "smart and literate." He said only nobles knew how to read. From there stemmed another conversation of how much Jet truly detested any sort of rich person and how cultured, civilized, and privileged they thought they were. Of course, Aang didn't care and always ignored him, but it was nice to not have him breathing over his shoulder and making fun of his hobby.

Though he did have to admit that it was hard to concentrate on the words on the page. Often, he found himself rereading multiple passages that he just didn't recall. His mind was racing and filling up with all sorts of agendas that he had hoped to accomplish. For example, today would have been a great time to go to the streets and gamble for money. There were a couple of copper coins in this pocket that he reserved for specifically instances such as these. The money he earned was always spent on more extravagant things or items in large stores that were very hard to just snatch and take. His eyes drifted to the jugs in the corner of the room and mentally noted that water would have been another good idea for today. But since it wasn't _completely_ necessary—they still had enough for a couple of days—going out in temperatures like today was agreed to have been a bad idea, much to Aang's dismay.

It bothered him—truly and utterly bothered him—that he couldn't go anywhere. Sitting here in his room reading and not going out there and surviving like he should have been filled him was a sense of loathing that he couldn't easily shake. Every time he tried to find someone to blame for it, he couldn't. It was an irrational emotion to have, since it also didn't solve anything brooding about the place with nothing to do. But who could blame him? It was like tying a dog up to a tree with a short rope and leaving him there for days without being able to go anywhere else. It was cruel, and it annoyed him that this was the only place that he could stay. And he couldn't help but have all of the "what if's" run through his head and think about what he could have done differently to make sure that nothing like this could have happened.

He was about to return again to see if he could try reading again, but Jet's stirring in the corner of the room caught him off guard. The blankets started moving about as the boy stretched his limbs from underneath him, and his groan came out muffled and distorted with sleepiness.

"Rise and shine, sleeping beauty," Aang muttered from behind his book. He chuckled when he felt the dirty glare being sent his way.

Jet rubbed at his eyes and looked towards the window. "Is it raining?" he asked.

The wooden slab was propped up in front of the window and managed to keep out enough cold and rain so that they wouldn't freeze. But the sounds of the water hitting the wood were echoing loudly through the room.

Aang turned another page and sighed. "Yeah. It stopped a couple of times in the past few hours, but it keeps starting up again randomly. I don't doubt there's going to be some ice on the roads soon."

Jet groaned loudly and plopped back down against the quilts and comforters underneath him. "Are you serious? Do you think it's going to stay like this?"

Aang shrugged and put his book down on the table. "I don't know. I hope not. We need to go out for water soon."

"How soon?" Jet asked. Depending on how bad the weather was, they may have to put stocking up on hold, or they probably wouldn't be able to go at all.

"I'd say about two days," Aang reasoned, staring at the jugs in the corner. "If we push it and really conserve, maybe three." But Aang knew that three days wasn't going to cut it. Because they had so little food left, they needed to keep themselves properly hydrated. Things were really starting to look bleak for the two of them. They needed to go out and steal something. From a bakery, a restaurant, a home. Anything. It'd be riskier than stealing from the market, and Aang would no doubt feel terrible about it later, but they couldn't afford to base their actions on morality at the moment.

Jet frowned and stared straight up at the ceiling. He was chewing on the inside of his cheek before he spoke again. "We can stop drinking water in the middle of the day to save water for three days. By then the weather should clear up, right?"

"Yeah," Aang commented. "Or it could get worse. Let's just stick with the plan. We'll go for more water in two days, no matter how cold it is."

Jet looked like he wanted to argue further, but decided against it and simply rolled over and looked towards the wall. "Fine. Whatever," he said tiredly.

Aang decided to let him sleep. He tended to do that when he had nothing to do or when was really stressed. He still felt pangs of worry hit his heart and couldn't help but ask Jet one last time if he was alright and if he needed to talk about anything at all.

"I'm fine Aang. Just tired." And the conversation was left at that.

It was obvious that the boy was getting more and more discouraged as the days went on. Although, to be fair, so was Aang. But he decided to not let himself get depressed over this. It wouldn't help either of them if they were both stewing over how miserable and messed up their situation was. If Jet was going to be miserable now, Aang would pick up the optimism. And later, when Aang was sure that he would fall into a slump, Jet would do the same for him. It was a back and forth support system that worked for the two of them for years, and it would continue working. It had to.

Aang shot his head up when he heard a knock coming from the front door downstairs. Jet didn't seem to hear to noise, or pretended not to hear it. Hugging his thin sweaters closer to him, he walked downstairs to where the house was colder and walked towards the door.

The moment he shoved it open, wind came flying into the room and chilled him to the bone, making him glad that he was stuck inside the house for once. The rain seemed to have let up some and was now only falling as a light drizzle. He looked around in front of him and to the left of him, wondering where the visitor had gone. He didn't see a flurry of blue coats and brown hair race around the corner and out of his line of vision.

Katara looked from around the corner and bit her lip, hoping that Aang would take the package. He was still staring down at it, wondering who would have bothered to leave a present for him. She pulled her scarf over her face and sighed. The request was so odd. Toph had come into her house soaking wet, refused new clothes, a warm drink, and food, and simply gave her that package and told her to deliver it to Aang.

Katara wasn't sure why Toph would be compelled to give Aang a present all of a sudden. When she had asked the noble why she was even bothering with something such as this, she just sighed, averted her eyes, and said, "I owe him. This is my way of saying thanks." When Katara asked why she had to go and deliver it, Toph stayed silent and didn't reveal as much information. She just said that she couldn't go give him the present herself. Besides, Katara was the only one who knew where he lived. Toph going over to visit him would have seemed strange. The older girl was tempted to pry for more information, but the green eyed girl looked tired and cold in those clothes and looked like she went through a lot to give this present to her to deliver. She had left Toph in her home to warm up while she went and dropped the present off.

The blue eyes girl looked on hopefully as she saw Aang carefully pick up the package and bring inside the house with him. She didn't leave her position until she heard the door shoved back into place. Whatever the gift was and whatever it was that Toph was planning, she at least hoped it al went well. To think that the poor girl went out in the chilling rain just for this, Katara couldn't understand that. But she supposed in the end, it was all resolved. Katara pushed herself off the wall of the building she was hiding behind and went back through the streets to tend to Toph who was nice and safe back at her house.

Meanwhile, Aang was attempting to untie the knot to the box he had found on his doorstep. At first, he didn't want to believe it. Who in the world would take the trouble of wrapping up a present for him, and in such a nice box too? It wasn't like he had many friends, and there wasn't any sort of special occasion that he could think of that came up recently. But, upon picking it up, it didn't look like it was harmful. It couldn't hurt to see what was inside, right? After all, if it was something good, he and Jet might be able to keep it.

Aang kicked open the door and startled Jet who was still sleeping on the floor. He groaned loudly and looked up from his cocoon of blankets, scarves, and sweaters to see what the noise was about. It was upon seeing the gift in Aang's hands that he got up from his bed and walked over to the table where Aang set the present down. Jet looked over Aang's shoulder and immediately asked, "Where'd you get that?"

The boy shrugged in response. "It was on the doorstep. Someone knocked just now and I found it here."

Jet kept staring at the box and picked at the white ribbon still wrapped around the box. He furrowed his brows at the odd gesture of random kindness. "Should we open it?"

"I don't know, what if a ferret pops out and chews our faces off?" Aang asked warily. It hadn't occurred to him until now, but maybe this wasn't a present at all. Maybe it was just some low life trying to get back at them for something. Or maybe it was just a sick prank being pulled on them because someone didn't have anything else better to do. All of those possibilities seemed more probably than someone actually caring enough to give him a gift.

Jet have him a deadpanned look. "Really? If that were even true, the box would be shaking and moving around like crazy. Besides…" Jet took the box and started shaking it around violently for a few seconds. He stopped, listened for a moment, and nudged Aang's shoulder. "There doesn't seem like there's anything alive in here. It can't hurt to see what someone went through the trouble of giving you. Just crack it open and see what's up."

Aang was still al little hesitant to open the box, but Jet seemed se eager to see what was inside that he decided it was better to just open it up and see. He slipped the ribbon off completely and lifted the lid of the box off of the top and peered inside. At first, neither boy said anything, because they weren't quite sure what they were looking at. It was just a large swatch of fabric in the box. It wasn't until Jet screamed the answer as loudly as he could that Aang's eyes finally popped out of their sockets, leaving him extremely perplexed.

"_Coats!"_

The tan boy didn't hesitate to lift one of the six coats out of the box and hold it up to himself. They looked really warm and brand-spanking new. Jet immediately threw on the coat and slipped his arms through the sleeves. He tied all the strings and clasped all the buttons and laughed once the coat was perfectly placed on.

"And they fit! Haha!" Jet immediately hugged the coat closer to him, relishing in the warmth that surrounded him for the first time this winter. Aang's mind immediately compared him to a little girl showing off a brand new dress that she had gotten on Christmas or for her birthday. Aang would have normally laughed at the comparison if he weren't so confused about what just happened.

"Here, Aang," Jet nearly shouted in his excitement. He sifted through the box and pulled out one of the coats in the box. "Try one on! It should fit."

Aang didn't have the time to protest the action before Jet immediately slipped him into one of the coats in the pile. Aang struggled to throw Jet off of him before he slowly fastened all the buttons on his coat and looked at his complete ensemble. He had to admit, the coat felt nice and warm and he felt a small spark of relief and happiness thrum through his body when he felt the fabric against his skin and warm his skin. He was tempted to just bask in the miracle that overcame them like Jet was, but Aang quickly snapped himself out of his reverie and decided to be the voice of logic.

"This doesn't make sense," Aang commented. "Who would give us coats like this? Why?"

"Maybe it was Katara," Jet offered. "I've always said that she had a soft spot for the two of us."

Aang shook his head and removed the coat. He started inspecting it with a critical eye and frowned. "A coat like this? No way. This is made out of velvet. Do you know how expensive that is? I mean, I know Katara has money, but not this much. You'd need like ten gold pieces to buy something like this. It doesn't make sense…"

Jet rolled his eyes and groaned dramatically. "Who the hell _cares_?" Jet laughed. "We have coats! Coats, Aang! We can go outside, we're not going to starve, and we'll be set for ages. Look how many there are. We can each have three, this is amazing! Stop complaining and just enjoy it for a second."

Aang may have seemed like a paranoid, uptight worrywart, but this was just a little too strange for him. It didn't make sense. Why anyone would want to drop off coats for them like they were life long friends was absolutely ridiculous. There had to be a catch of some sort with all of this. They didn't live in a world where kindness showed up to your doorstep. So who else could have—

His eyes were fixed on the inside of the coat he was holding and he froze. "…no freaking way."

"What? What happened, is something wr—hey! What the hell are you doing!" Jet shouted at Aang when he stalked over, undid the buttons on the coat, and snatched it off of him. Jet looked at Aang strangely when he saw him stuffing the coats back into the box and tying back together.

"What the hell is your problem? Why are you putting them away?"

Aang ignored him and took the box with him downstairs. He pulled the hat on his head lower so that it covered his forehead and buttoned up the sweater he was wearing. He was about to fling open the door to the house before he was stopped by Jet. The boy was holding the door closed with the palm of his hand and was looking at Aang expectantly, awaiting an explanation.

The grey eyed boy was too riled and up and upset to explain anything in detail. He sighed and simply stated, "We're not keeping these."

"Why the hell not?" Jet asked seriously, his light and uncaring demeanor dissipating quickly. "We _need_ these. And you're taking them back?"

Aang wrenched the door open regardless and caused Jet to stumble backwards a few steps. All of a sudden, Aang was filled with an anger that warmed up his entire body. He was numb to the cold and to the wind howling against his body. He wasn't even thinking about the weather. He was far too upset, and he had his eyes on one destination only.

He left Jet with one final statement before he rushed out of the house. "It's not the coats I have a problem with. It's who sent them." That's all he left his best friend with, and he slammed the door behind him.

As Aang stalked angrily through the streets of the city, he couldn't suppress his anger and he almost couldn't believe what he had just seen. It was impossible that something like this could happen, and he was dead set on resolving this once and for all. He wasn't going to be made a fool of. This wasn't going to keep going on, not as long as he had something to say about. The cold was brutal, and he was sure that even his blood was running cold thanks to the wind added into the mix. His whole body was shivering and his lips were turning blue, and inside the back of his mind was the desire to turn around and find warm shelter before he froze to death. But what he saw fueled his anger and helped him ignore the cold and press forward.

Embroidered into the hem of one of the coats was an animal: a flying boar to be precise.

You had to be an idiot to not know what that seal meant and what is represented. Placing all the pieces together, there was only one person who could possibly be behind this.

Toph Bei Fong.


	9. Progress

_**A/N:**__ So I have mono, which means I finally have time to write (a blessing and a curse I suppose). But it's worth it for finally getting this chapter up. Not too sure about the ending, but it seemed like a good place to end it, so I guess I'll leave it. Oh, and excuse any typos for the moment. I'll edit for grammar tomorrow when I'm not feeling so run down. Now…I think I'm going to take my medicine and take a nap. Enjoy the chapter. _

**OOO**

**Chapter 9**

**Progress**

**OOO**

Katara's house was coming into view, and Aang could only hope that he wasn't completely wasting his time by coming here. After all, the two girls were friends it seemed—although now that he thought about it, he wasn't sure how that even came about, among other things concerning this insufferable girl—so Katara should at least know where to find the noble. If not, Aang did have half the mind to march up to each and every manor at the edge of the city, knock on every single door, and demand that she show herself and explain the reason for such ridiculous efforts.

That's all this was: an absolutely futile and ridiculous endeavor that served no purpose other than to thoroughly infuriate him.

Was he overreacting? Perhaps a little, he would have admitted to himself had he been in his calm and right mind. But something about seeing that present wrapped on his doorstop brought up bitter and resentful feelings, and Aang had no interest in entertaining them any more than he had to.

When Aang brought his fist down on the surface of the door, he realized how chilled his hands were. His knocking brought no sensation to his fists and his chilled limbs looked paler than they ever had. He felt his teeth chattering and could probably bet that his lips were turning darker. But he had to remind himself that he had been through worse and that this trek was necessary. He was going to set this all straight—especially one person in particular.

Of course that certain someone was the last person he had expected to open the door and lock eyes with him. But lo and behold, there she was, wrapped up in a wool blanket, her hair slightly damp, and holding a cup of hot tea in her hands. There was a small fire roaring behind her and the edges of her hair looked as if they were drying from the heat of the fire. The thought of her getting caught in the rain crossed his mind briefly, but he didn't bring any attention to it as the desire to barrel into that heat coming from the fire started over come him.

Aang sighed and scowled as Toph stared back at him with her head tilted and her lips parted as if she were trying to form a thought.

"Is Katara home?" he asked.

She didn't answer at first. The girl was still dumbfounded by his sudden appearance, but she managed to shake her head and find her voice. "She went to drop off something to her brother. Breakfast I think. Did you need to see her?"

Aang stepped into the threshold of the house and stepped into the living room, pushing past Toph and not bothering to look her way. "No actually. I'd much rather talk with you, if you don't mind."

He walked past the kitchen to his left where tea was boiling over the fire and entered the living room where a couch and a few chairs were set up along the walls. The windows were shut tight and the curtains were drawn. The candles around the room were already blown out as some rays of sunlight were peeking through the windows and lighting up the room. He caught sight of the large wet spot on the carpet in front of the fire and again and couldn't help but turn to her in amusement.

"Get wet on your way here or something?" he chuckled.

The girl wasn't amused. "So you just barge right on in here and start teasing me the minute you get in? That's none of your business. What the hell is your problem?"

"Well, it was kind of cold out there," Aang defended. "Unless you expected me to have a chat with you in the bitter cold. Remember, I don't have winter clothes."

Toph frowned at his behavior and reluctantly entered the living room after him. "About the teasing," Aang continued, "well I think I have a right to that seeing as how you made fun of me so much before. I think that's fair, don't you?"

"Aang." She spoke his name harshly, as if he were some rodent or pest hiding under the carpet that she couldn't quite get rid of. Whatever friendly terms they had managed to establish seemed to have been thrown out the window with the way she was staring at him filled with annoyance. Maybe that was partially his fault, but it didn't matter. He was just as upset as she was.

Besides, he knew that the civil atmosphere between them wasn't going to last. She was too nosy and also too much of a liar. They were bound to get to this point sooner or later. Preferably, he hoped that this didn't have to happen and they would never see each other again. Not because he was concerned about their good terms being jeopardized, but because dealing with her was troublesome. But seeing as how she wanted to try and meddle with his life that didn't need to be meddled with, they were in this situation.

"Why are you here?" she asked him.

"I already told you," Aang said, looking innocent. "I only wanted to talk to you."

"Well no idiot just comes barging on in here because they just want to talk." Toph situated herself on the side of the couch closest to the fire. She quickly finished the tea and placed it on the floor next to her. She let the blanket drop from around her shoulders and she stared at the male standing in the middle of the room. "What the hell do you want?"

Aang grabbed a chair and twisted it around so that his legs were straddling the back of it. He sat down and rested his arms on the top of the chair. "Isn't that my line?"

"What?"

"Why are _you_ here?" Aang asked sternly. "You obviously went through a lot to come here, what with you getting wet in the rain on the way here."

Toph growled under her breath and leaned forward. "I already told you that is _none of your business_," she glared. "Besides, I asked you a question first—"

"—and I answered you," Aang finished harshly. "I want to talk to you and ask you some questions, because I'm really questioning your standards when it comes to honesty."

Toph's eyes flickered with emotion for a moment. It was almost too quick for Aang to notice but something shook her. It went as quickly as it came and her cold, defensive demeanor returned in enough time for her to rebuke his statement. Her response, however, was quiet and didn't have as much of a bite to it as it normally would have. "I never lied to you."

"Oh, really?" Aang laughed. He knew that she was stubborn, but he didn't think she'd be denying everything so openly. Sure, maybe this entire meeting with him barreling into Katara's house uninvited was a bit much, but he wasn't thinking with a full deck at the moment. Right now, all he was concerned about was getting answers. And damn it all if he was going to leave here without them.

"Are you prepared to swear to that?" he asked coldly.

The girl looked as if she were about to fall back into another bout of denial, but instead she leaned forward and spoke quietly and dangerously. "Look," she started, "I don't appreciate you coming in here and interrogating me like I've done something wrong. Plus, the way you come in here without any warning or invitation, what do you expect me to do, just give you answers all wrapped up in a nice bow? That's not how it works."

Aang shook his head and almost laughed out loud at the hypocrisy spewing from this girl's mouth. She was such a contradiction in every sense of the word. Preaching to him about being rude? _Please_.

"Lying doesn't work either," he reminded her

"I already told you I've never lied to you—"

"Does this look familiar?"

It was then that the box that Aang had been carrying was first noticed by Toph. Being an expert at handling her parents, she was very skilled when it came to masking emotions. She didn't show any indication that this box meant anything to her on the outside. But flares of panic started rising in her chest. It hadn't even been a couple of hours since she had decided to go through with this and he had already led this back to her? What was she going to do? More importantly, how did he find out about this? No, there was no way he had any evidence that this had anything to do with her. It was best to just play stupid.

"It's a box," she answered simply, looking as bored and as uninterested as she could manage. "What about it?"

Aang let out a frustrated sigh. "Thank you for being obvious. But do you know this specific box?"

"I don't know," Toph smirked playfully. She picked up her tea cup from the floor. "Do you know this specific tea cup? Out of the millions of tea cups that there are in the world?" She laughed a little before shaking her head at him. "I really don't know what you're asking. If you're just going to ask stupid questions, you can just leave." Maybe he'll get so tired of arguing with her that he'll just leave with the coats and call it a day, she thought. After all, according to their track record, she one most of their fights. The chances of her talking herself out of this were in her favor.

Aang clutched the fabric of his pants tightly, his palms paling and shaking with the effort. She truly was insufferable. Every time she showed him that maybe she wasn't such a bad person, she completely ruins the thought, pours salt and brine over it, and ensures that such a notion would never resurface again. This was just another one of those times. He watched her sitting there, looking beautiful as always but with an infuriating smirk on her face as well as an air of determination and cockiness around her. How he wished he could just rip that smile off.

_Calm down, one thing at a time_, he reminded himself. _She'll explain everything eventually. You have stone cold proof that not even she could talk herself out of. _

That's right. He had the upper hand, and judging by her confidence, she wasn't aware of this advantage that he had over her. His anger melted away briefly, and instead he smiled warmly at her. Oh, yes. He would win this fight for sure.

The cover of the box was ripped open and the box was flipped upside down. The contents of the box tumbled out and the coats piled on the floor before them. Aang dropped the box next to him and leaned his chin on his folded arms, smiling sweetly as if everything in the world just righted itself and as if he weren't contemplating throttling her a few moments ago.

"Now I'm sure you recognize _those_, Little Miss Liar." He kicked the pile with his foot so that the coats slid across the wood floor and rested at the girl's feet. Her eyes flickered again like they had done before, but like the last time it only lasted for a moment. Maybe it was because Aang was unnaturally observant, but he was already figuring out the girl's tells. It was all in her eyes. They gave away everything.

But Toph made no outward indication of that and simple scoffed at the pile before her. "I don't know what these are. What exactly are you trying to prove here, huh?"

"You know, you're really stubborn," Aang seethed. "You are actually going to sit there and lie to my face?"

This time, she had nothing to say and simply sat there looking defiant. He knew that she knew that there was little else she could do anymore. Her short bursts of denial were only working to delay the inevitable discovery, and there really any sense in denying it further. But admitting to it seemed too far out of her league as well. So it seemed that she had settled with simply remaining silent and covering as much as she could. But it was too late. She was caught red handed and there was little she could do to stop Aang's accusations.

"Think," he continued, "there's a flying boar embroidered in the cloak. That means that the Bei Fong's were behind it. Everyone I told hasn't the money to buy something this expensive. Just look at it. Velvet interior? You've got to be kidding me. So that leaves you."

He saw the panic in her eyes and the lump form in her throat. This was the first time had seen her so nervous and uncomfortable. Aang frowned and dropped his arms in his lap. She was looking down at her lap. It sent his mind reeling that she would actually sit there looking so guilty as opposed to trying to get back at him or say something. But he couldn't stop his mouth from prattling on.

"You seem to know so much about me, yet I know absolutely nothing about you. You don't dress like you're from the slums no matter how hard you try. You may dress plain, but you don't dress poor," he explained, staring at her clothes again that looked dull yet were undoubtedly of high quality. An honest yet futile attempt to fit in, and he saw right through it. He had been developing his street smarts for too long. He saw right through it.

"You're so vague when you talk about yourself, it's obvious that you're hiding something," he kept on, leaning closer to her from his seat in his chair. "Plus, you bear a strange and uncanny resemblance to a certain young noble. I saw you process back into the city a few weeks ago. So I think I'm right in assuming that you're not being completely honest with me."

That has Toph's head snapping up immediately and her face immediately twisted in horror. Her eyes darted to the side and down to the coats that he had dropped before her. She cringed and shut her eyes shut, and it was then that he knew that she realized the position she was in. Her hands clutched at the fabric of the couch she was sitting on and shook her head.

There was no way Toph could refute any of that. He was spot on about everything, and the last thing that he said stabbed her right through the chest and left her in a state of dejection. She had tried so hard to make sure that no one would be able to find out. She pressed a hand to her forehead and mentally kicked herself. Of _course_. Ty Lee always put their family seal in the clothes. Why didn't she think of that sooner? There was no use. He knew, and this definitely wasn't good.

She stood quiet for a moment before he heard her mutter something quietly.

"You can't tell anyone."

Aang lifted a brow. "What good would telling anyone do me? Besides, someone like me…they wouldn't believe it," he finished lamely. He meant it. This was a secret that he had been keeping since he had first met her at Katara's house. He figured there was a reason for a noble to be dressing up like she was a commoner and sneaking out of her house so often. It wasn't anything he wanted to get into with her if she tried so hard to hide it. "That's not what I care about, though. You _know _what I want to know."

"I'm not kidding!" she almost shouted. "This wasn't supposed to get out," she pleaded desperately. "If my parents were to find out that I'm sneaking out like this, they'd murder me. They'll lock me up forever. It's bad enough that I can barely leave the house by myself as it is. If this got out to them, or if it became a rumor in the town I'd…"

Aang held up a hand and stopped her desperate rant. "Look, to be honest I kind of had it figured out for a while," he assured her. "I haven't told anyone yet this whole time, and I already told you that it wouldn't benefit me telling anyone anyway."

Toph grabbed at her hair and groaned. "That's not the point! It's the fact that you found out that bothers me. Who else knows? Ugh, dammit! I can't believe this…"

He rolled his eyes at the scene before him and completely ignored the changed topic that she cleverly switched into. "Look, sorry to interrupt your little internal crisis, Miss Bei Fong,"—Toph glared at the name he used—"but I came here for answers, not to watch you sit there and feel sorry for yourself," Aang interrupted a second time. "This isn't alright. I know it was you that delivered these and there's no use in denying. So tell me what the hell was going through your mind."

Toph lifted her head and looked straight into his eyes. Gone was the apprehension and the fear of getting caught. She was already figured out, and now it looked like she was dead set on giving an explanation that would shut him up for good. "Don't talk to me like I did something wrong," she countered, her old demeanor back and ready to bite back. "You needed it. Don't deny it. I thought that this would serve as a thank you." She was sincere, like she didn't mean any ill will through the act, but Aang barely saw it and instead focused on the fire in her eyes and the glare being sent his way as she spoke with a hard and determined tone that was very apparent in her voice.

"So you sent me coats when I told you not to?"

That comment had her scoffing and shaking her head at him again. "Don't talk to me like I'm a five year old little girl that got caught stealing sweets before dinner." She leaned her elbows forward on her knees and met his gaze exactly. They were both hunched forward, trying to intimidate and prove themselves right. Neither was willing to back down, and neither of them moved when they spoke. Their positions were rigid and absolute.

Aang glared at her insistence and got out of his chair. He kneeled down and sloppily shoved all of the coats back into the house. His actions were rough and betrayed his frustration, and the way he closed and sealed the box was sloppy and done impatiently. He dropped the box by her feet and turned his body slightly, as is he were making to leave.

"Take them. Take them all back. I don't want them."

Immediately, Toph shot out of her seat and grabbed Aang's shoulder. She pulled him towards her so that he was facing her again and retorted back.

"I just saved your life for all you know!" she shouted, now fully angry with him. "Look at how you're dressed right now. You froze on the way here and you know it. I saw you when you walked in. Your lips were blue! You need these, so take them!"

"No," he insisted harshly. He didn't even need to think about the response. It was automatic at this point. He wasn't having any of this. "This is the last thing I wanted from you. I can't accept these so just take them back!"

The message wasn't taking in her mind. Because no matter how fiercely he was staring at her and how stern his voice came out, she didn't seem to understand what he was saying—no, she _refused_ to understand.

"You know that is some way to show your goddamn appreciation, you jerk!" she said. "I just did you a major favor. This could help you! And you're freaking asking for it back?"

Aang snorted. "Look at you. A sheltered princess cursing and getting all frustrated. Isn't that against your code or something?"

Her teeth were bared now. She was really getting upset. "Don't you start dictating to me how I should be acting!" she seethed. "This isn't the point, and I'm sick and tired of you acting like you're so much better than everyone else around you. You needed help! I gave it to you! What's the issue?"

But Toph was met with nothing more than an eye roll as Aang turned away from her and started moving towards the other side of the living room to get away with her. "I'm not explaining myself to you. Just take it back. That's it."

If there was one thing he could say about this girl, it was that she was persistent. Because even as he was walking away from her to get away from the conversation, she followed. She explained herself. She wanted to thank him, and frankly he couldn't accept the thanks. So he returned them. But she just wouldn't give up. She got up from her seat on the couch and followed him, demanding his attention the entire time. She caught up to him in the doorway that separated the kitchen and the living room and forcefully turned him around.

Aang forgot that she was actually pretty strong—he vaguely recalled the man in the market she had single handedly knocked to the ground without any trouble at all—so he was a bit shocked when he was so forcefully turned around. His balance wavered a bit and he stumbled into the doorframe and was met with her heated glare.

"You came to me for answers, now I want some." She spoke quietly and dangerously serious. She wasn't playing around anymore. "Why won't you take them?"

"I already told you, it doesn't matter. Just take them back." His voice was quiet but his gaze didn't waver. He was staring right at her.

They were close. She was right in front of him, their faces about a foot apart and they were both relentless in their pursuits. Aang would speak, Toph wanted answers.

"Look, if this has to do with your damn pride or whatever—"

Aang laughed. "Oh, please. If you actually think that this is a pride issue…"

"I'm starting to think that this is exactly what it is," she countered.

"This has nothing to do with pride, damn it!"

"The hell it doesn't!"

"You wouldn't understand! "

"Then explain! I want to know!"

Aang growled. "Will you listen to yourself? It doesn't concern you!"

"When I see someone in need I help them!" she insisted. "That's how I work."

"What am I, a charity case?"

At that point, she had had it. "This isn't me pitying you! Just tell me why I—"

"You can't just—"

"Dammit, Aang! Tell me!"

Toph's was the last shout to ring through the house, and it was at that moment that Aang was truly floored for a moment. This was the loudest he had ever heard himself scream, or Toph for that matter. She was breathing heavily due to the exertion and he could clearly hear their voices still echoing out in the darkness of the room. From inside, they could hear the city waking up with a vengeance. The noises of the city at least helped in filling up the silence. But it did little to help the situation.

He didn't know what overcame him. Maybe he was finally close enough to see the sincerity shining in her eyes, or maybe it was the shouting that helped sober him up and realize that in reality, she probably meant nothing wicked behind her actions. He was upset and he overreacted. Both of them realized this at the same moment, because both of their eyes widened at the same time and they backed off of each other slightly. Toph immediately looked to the side again—a habit that Aang was beginning to pick up on. Aang scratched the back of his head and the discomfort started to settle in.

Aang sighed heavily. He looked down at her, this hopeless, infuriating girl who was trying her hardest not to catch his gaze. For a moment though, he saw a less upfront side of her. The one thing that impressed Aang was her rough exterior that made her seem to be an intimidating, a force to be reckoned with. But it was times like these that Aang really noticed the sides that she tried not to show.

She was uncomfortable. With the situation, or with what she did…he wasn't really sure. But he realized that maybe this wasn't the best idea, and she had thought she was doing something good. Maybe he was assuming too much about her—they didn't know each other that well to be honest—but this didn't seem like her nature. This tough girl running out in the pouring rain to do a favor for someone she just met…

...he supposed she was right.

Aang bowed his head and muttered quietly, just enough for her to hear. "When you get a present, what do you do?"

Toph turned her head and questioned him quietly. "What are you talking about?"

"When someone gives you something," he repeated, "what do you do?"

Toph struggled with the question for a moment before replying. "I don't know…give them a present back or something…or at the very least thank them. What are you getting at?"

"It's an age-old custom," Aang explained tiredly. "In order to get something, you have to give something. When you receive something, you have to give something in return. Right?"

Toph nodded in response. "I guess."

Aang visibly struggled with his next words, looking up at the ceiling and hoping that it would give him an answer. "I can't…do that."

There was a waver in his voice, and he almost hoped that Toph hadn't picked up on it. But she was a very perceptive person from what he gathered based on the little he knew about her. She already looked worried and confused. She knew that this was touchy, which was why she wasn't saying anything. He had to hand it to her—she was very good at reading people.

"I don't have anything," Aang admitted quietly. "Nothing to give, nothing to offer, nothing that anyone would want. I have to dig and scrape just to get by. It's bad enough that I have to steal just to get anywhere without dying on the street somewhere. At the very least, those merchants are despicable and deserve to be stolen from, so I don't feel too bad about not being able to pay them back…but you…"

Aang swallowed and collected his voice so as not to betray any emotions. "I can't give you anything. That's why I can't…I shouldn't be taking those from you. Not when I can't pay you back…and it frustrates _so much_ to know that I can't give you what you deserve in return. It makes my blood boil…and I know that you being who you were, this rich heiress…there is nothing in the world that I can give to make up for this. "

Toph's gaze remained on him, and for a moment she didn't say anything. Aang had to look up for a moment just to make sure she was still listening to him. He wouldn't have called her look emotionless—more like she was still absorbing everything he said and deciding how she should react. It was getting a little disconcerting and Aang was about to open his mouth and ask her what the matter was and if she could please say something. Her silence made him think that he had said something wrong or offended her in some way. But before he could say anything, Toph responded to his speech…

…and that response was a firm punch in the gut.

Aang immediately doubled over—damn that strength of hers—and held his abdomen as he wheezed out in pain. He glared up at her again and immediately remembered what he had been saying about her for so long. She was so two faced. Sweet and sincere one second, punching him the next. He would never understand her, and he was wondering why the heck he even bothered being civil with her.

"What the—what was _that_ for?" he wheezed out as loudly as he could. Next thing he knew she would be punching him in the jaw and stalking out of the house in anger.

But instead, she started laughing and shaking her head, much like one would do to a little kid right after they told you something foolish. She looked up at him with humor in her eyes and smiled genuinely for the first time that entire morning. "You're really an idiot, you know that?"

Aang tilted his head and opened his mouth to respond, but Toph beat him to it.

"Did you really think I expected something in return for this?" she questioned him honestly. Aang didn't know how to describe the way she was looking at him, but he decided that he didn't dislike it and allowed her to continue.

"I did this out of kindness, not out of obligation. Therefore I never expected anything out of you. It was something from me to you and I'd honestly have to be a gigantic jerk to expect you to pay me back. I helped you. You can keep them. No strings attached. No loopholes. No deals. The only think I want from you is for you to accept them."

Aang started to speak again. "But—"

Toph sighed. "No one's ever done something like this for you, have they?"

He looked shocked and his eyes showed a sheepish reluctance to admit to her claims. But Toph assumed that his silence meant that she was right. She smiled lightly a little bit and watched him hang his head, lifting his eyes a little bit to keep eye contact with her. There wasn't much to argue with about that. She was right.

"But," he continued. "Why? Didn't we agree that we hated each other? I don't like going back on previously established pacts if you know what I mean."

Toph rolled her eyes and sighed heavily. Here it was again: the topic she didn't like touching upon. Oh well. Here goes.

She bit the very edge of her lip and looked down before speaking. "I don't know myself…you are without a doubt the only person in the world I've ever met that's made me this riled up. Well, maybe not the only person." Her parents immediately came to mind, but he didn't need to know that.

"But…when you saved me out of the blue like that and got yourself into so much trouble for me…no one's ever done that. Everyone else would have just watched it happen. Then when we were talking in that alley, you weren't this irritating guy that I couldn't stand. I can't explain it but something about the way you were sitting there and telling me about what you were going through got to me. I started thinking that maybe you weren't such a bad guy, and someone like you at least deserved a little help. I just didn't think you'd throw a tantrum about it."

"Not only that," she continued, and decided this was a good moment to turn her face away even further. "But you knew who I was and you didn't…you didn't tell, you didn't treat me different. Even though you were teasing and making fun of me, you made me feel…normal." She smiled to herself. "That's more than I can say for my own family."

To her parents, she was a necessity in order to keep their reputation in order. If she did anything wrong, she was an inconvenience. Katara was sweet and she liked coming over to visit her, but the way Katara coddled her made her feel like a second mother. It wasn't that she didn't appreciate her friendship—that wasn't it at all—but Katara treated her like a little sister that she needed to take care of and make sure she was alright. Even Sokka—the few times that she's met him—always ruffled her hair when they met like she was a little girl. It was comforting in some situations, but she wanted to feel equal with somebody. Not ignored, not coddled.

Then there was Aang: the only person that she felt was at her level. Sure they argued, but even those moments were the most fun she'd had in ages. Then these moments—the ones where she finally got a good look into him—were moments she had never experienced with anyone before. Despite how they had fought before in the past, she couldn't help but be fond of him.

Aang grinned. "So you like me?"

Toph smirked, afraid to show her face in case she was doing something idiotic like blushing. "I think you're tolerable."

That made Aang laugh, and by instinct Toph shot her head up and was about to glare at him for making fun of her when she said something honest. But she froze for a moment when she locked eyes with him.

His eyes were sparkling, filled with fondness and emotion. He was smiling at her this time. It was different than anything he had done before. Usually they were smirks, grins, and little chortles. But she had never seen him look at her like this. He seemed content, which was a relief considering how angry he was when he came in. Admittedly, they both acted stupid. Not that she would admit it aloud, but it was true. She understood why he would be, and hopefully he understood why she did what she did and hopefully he would finally accept the gift. She assumed this was all true, because he seemed too sincere at the moment for that to be otherwise. He rubbed the back of his neck nervously and averted their gaze for a single moment. But when they returned, the intensity returned. A part of her brain acknowledged how handsome he looked when he smiled so beautifully, and before she knew it her cheeks were flaming.

He kept staring. "I…acted like an idiot. I'm sorry."

She shook her head. "No. I get it. You don't need to…"

"But I do," he insisted. "You were only trying to help. You were right I guess I'm just not used to it. I shouldn't have…" He stopped, collected his thoughts for a moment and heaved a great sigh. He grabbed her shoulders and bowed his head. Toph didn't move and let him stay there for a moment. She didn't know what he was doing—it didn't sound like he was crying—but she didn't dare shrug his hands off. Not after what he said to her. No, what they each said about the other. This was probably the closest they had ever gotten towards understanding each other.

Her thoughts broke as he spoke quietly in a warm voice that made her heart swell.

"Thank you. Really, thank you."


	10. Crumble

**OOO**

**Chapter 10**

**Crumble**

**OOO**

Toph's mind was reeling.

She couldn't think, move, speak...even the sight of Aang with a pleasant and grateful smile over his face began to blur before her. Everything became hazy, and all she could do was stand back and let it all happen, because she really didn't even know what to do with herself at this point.

She faintly heard Katara's knocking on the front door and sort of—kind of—saw Aang shoot up and dash back towards the living room where they were before. Was he shocked? Scared? She couldn't quite tell. Again, she could barely force her eyes to focus. He quickly picked up the coats that had been previously scattered across the floor and it slowly occurred to her that she should probably crouch down and help him.

The latch above the door was being lifted and Aang immediately sped off towards the back door and threw it open. She was tempted to ask why he felt the need to dash out just because Katara was here, but she figured that explaining away what had occurred and why Aang was here uninvited would be more of a headache than it was worth, so she didn't say anything.

Toph expected that she was acting fairly odd considering that they were having a heart-to-heart just a moment ago—_No! Don't think about it! Not now!—_and now she was acting so detached. But it seemed as though Aang was more eager to leave and avoid explanations than to zero in on her behavior. She mechanically got up and helped him closing up the box as he squeezed out of the narrow back doorway. He didn't have time to throw on one of her gifts. Katara was already hanging her coat on the hook in the wall.

"Don't worry. I'll find you," he whispered quickly as he stood just outside of the door. "I have to talk to you in a better place than this." What he meant by that, she didn't know. She didn't get a chance to ask since he had sped off into the bitter cold right after he had said it. Not that she could have summoned her voice to ask such a thing anyway.

Now everything seemed so surreal. Nothing made sense; everything was so muddled and mixed up…the whole house was looked so untouched and undisturbed that she had to wonder whether he was here at all. He came and left so quickly. Did they even talk? Did he take her gift, or did she still have it and fail to even ask Katara for the favor?

It would have made more sense if he hadn't taken anything and if this had all been a nice hope. But her chest was still hurting and she was still so confused. So that couldn't have been true.

Ugh…her chest was aching and throbbing and creating a dull pain that spread through her whole torso. What had happened? What _was_ that?

His words were just too potent. They affected her too much. Look at her! She was a mess and she couldn't figure out why! Just the way his gaze penetrated her so deeply, she found a blush reaching her cheeks and flaming up her entire face. She couldn't even bring herself to stare at him directly in the face for fear that something worse would happen. He made her so flustered and so completely bare.

And his thank you…the way he held her and said thank you…

That's when the throbbing in her chest started.

Something about his apology and the way he seemed to mean every word of it made her heart hurt. In a good way, she supposed, but at the same time it worried her. He was just so sincere and so absolutely kind that she couldn't help herself. The annoyance that she held for him seemed to melt away almost instantly and was replaced with something altogether different. All of a sudden, a match ignited, and now it was slowly turning into this smoldering fire that was becoming harder and harder to ignore as the seconds passed. _Seconds!_ All of this was happening so fast, she wondered if this was even possible. What was worse was that she didn't even know what "this" was. What just _happened_?

She clutched her chest and prayed for it to stop bothering her. This was ridiculous. Why was it still beating so quickly? The blush on her cheeks was still there—she could feel the heat coming off of her face easily. It was hard to ignore. She placed a hand to her forehead and tried to think. Why was she reacting like this? It wasn't like he said anything about her being beautiful, gorgeous, or amazing. He certainly didn't go through some long-winded confession either. So what? What did he do? Nothing like this was supposed to happen from giving and accepting well-meant gifts. And if so, she really needed to stop the habit. She couldn't be going through this every time.

She exhaled harshly, her frustration growing. Her heart was still racing. Her mind was still muddled. This didn't make any sense. She had only ever felt like this once before in her life and that was when…

…oh _no_.

Toph's hand flew up to her mouth and she accidently backed into the wall. The rough collision startled Katara who was only now entering the living room to see her best friend and her predicament. Toph barely took notice to her entrance. Her eyes were darting about the room, as if it could give her an answer. But she knew that this was impossible. This was definitely not something some furniture and a couple of windows could fix. Especially not when everything all of a sudden just became achingly clear in a rush of vividness and clarity that made her uncomfortable and frightened. She felt Katara touch her shoulder and ask her if she was alright. She had only been gone for a bit and didn't expect anything to happen in that time, so she understood her worry. But Toph wasn't focused on that at the moment. Right now, her mind was supplying only one single sentiment.

She needed to get out of here. Now.

"Sorry, Katara. I need to go." She didn't supply any other explanation. She grabbed her coat and her cloak and slipped them on as quickly as she could. Her fingers were shaking with the realization she just came to. Even something as simple as buttoning up her cloak was proving to be exceedingly difficult.

She _really_ needed to get out of here. Maybe if she went home and played sick the entire day it would give her ample time to relax and stop thinking. That was the problem after all. Thinking too much. She was doing it right now. That's why she needed to leave. Oh, she really needed to get home.

"Wait a minute," Katara asked, watching the shorter girl bustle around the room. "You only just got here. It's still early. I thought that we could go out to town and—"

Toph grabbed Katara's hands in her own and looked at her apologetically. "I know. And I'm sorry. But my parents think I'm sick and I need to get back before they find out I'm not there. I didn't plan on staying long."

"Are you sure?" Katara asked, sounding confused. "I mean, after all you went through to get here you're just going to leave?"

Toph sighed as she finished tightening the scarf around her neck. "I know, and I'm sorry. I'll make it up to you later. Maybe I'll treat you to breakfast next time. But I really need to leave."

It was a sudden exit, and Katara deserved a better explanation, but Toph couldn't be bothered to hang around anymore. Especially this room that was far too distracting thanks to what had occurred not even a few moments ago. She vaguely heard Katara's protests but decided to ignore them and walk home like she had promised herself she would. She simply waved a quick goodbye over her shoulder and plunged back into the cold, crowded streets.

It must have been early afternoon by now since the streets were beginning to be swathed in in early afternoon sunlight. Her parents would definitely be coming into her room to check on her soon—or at the very least send someone to do it for them. Plus, she only just started to feel her stomach clench in hunger. She only had tea this morning and felt that having some solid food in her stomach would help her think more clearly and maybe even calm her down from her high of hyperactive thinking and dangerous thought processes.

Yes…maybe some nice pastries, fruit, and toasted bread. That would be a nice distraction.

**OOO**

"My dear…don't you think it'd be better to sit up instead of sleep all day?"

Toph burrowed her head underneath her pillows. Honestly, the maids in this house meant well, but didn't they understand when someone needed _space?_ She was going through a crisis here. Her world was falling apart—okay not really, but she needed to think, and damn it all if she had to stay in bed moping all day to do it.

"Ugh, just go away! I'm fine. I'm just sick…" she trailed off, forgetting that yelling and getting riled up probably wasn't the best idea when you were trying to convince someone that you're sick. "I need some sleep."

The maid frowned. "Your mother told me not to let you sleep in all day," she reminded. "It would be going against orders to let you sleep anymore. It's the middle of the afternoon—"

Toph groaned loudly from underneath the covers and grumbled out a rather rude response. "I'm just as much a part of this family as my parents are, which means that what I have to say is just as important. I want to stay in bed because I don't feel well, so can't they just leave me the hell alone?"

The girl rolled over in her covers and covered her ears. The maid sighed and sat down on the chair next to the bed. The servants were all used to the girl's expletives and less-than-acceptable form of speaking. She never really fit into that prim and proper mold that her parents have been hoping that she would sooner of later fit into once she got older. But the people who tutored her, dressed her, and had to listen to her complaints and suffer through her episodes (sort of like this one) knew that if she hadn't changed by now, she wasn't going to anytime soon. Not that many of them minded much. She was a pleasure to be around, if a little rough around the edges. The maid also knew—what from serving this little girl ever since she was a toddler—that the girl wasn't just sick.

The maid sighed and started pouring a cup of tea from the tray she brought in. "Sweetheart, we've known each other for years. All the times you've been sick you ignore everyone's warnings and run around your room reading, working, and doing the complete opposite of rest. The only other reason for you to be stuck in bed is because something is bothering you."

Toph said nothing.

"How about this?" the maid offered. "We'll discuss it over some jasmine tea. We won't talk about anything you don't want to say. Just please get out from under there."

Toph grumbled something into her pillows but stuck out her hand from underneath the blankets. "I'll adhere to your last two concessions. However, I refuse to talk to anyone about anything."

The maid didn't seem to take it personally and instead smiled as she handed the girl her tea and helped her sit up in her bed. Toph grumbled as she sipped from her tea and let the liquid soothe the itch that she had at the back of her throat. Now that she was still and taking notice, her face was hot as well. Maybe she really was coming down with something? It would make sense. Being out in the rain this morning really didn't help matters when it came to staying healthy. Eh, not like it really mattered at this point anyway. She wasn't going to leave her room either way.

"Is it really that horrible to confide in a fellow woman about such things?" the maid smiled knowingly. Toph didn't like the smile. She never did. The woman always knew more than she let on. That smile was just a precursor to all of the secrets she would undoubtedly be revealing the more she pried. Unfortunately, Toph had yet to learn how to evade such tactics. It made conversations like these extremely frustrating, which was why she was trying to avoid it.

Although, that was looking a bit unlikely the more the woman smiled to herself.

Toph chose her next words carefully. "I don't want to confide in anyone about this. I just need to let it ferment for a bit, if you know what I mean."

"Oh, I don't deny that at all," the maid explained. She decided at this point that she was going to be here for a bit and decided to pour herself a cup of jasmine tea as well. "But sometimes you need to add a little something to help the process along."

"Yeah," Toph admitted slowly, clutching her cup just a little bit tighter, "but sometimes adding outside ingredients can ruin what you're trying to prepare. It's better to let it alone and let nature run its course."

Here they were again, playing head games. Not that the maid minded too much. This was what she meant before about the girl being terribly amusing. "But it all depends on what is being prepared, wouldn't you agree? Sometimes letting it alone isn't enough…"

Toph rolled her eyes at this. "And how would you know what requires outside help and what doesn't? You claim yourself to be some sort of expert or something?"

"Well I'm not an expert," the woman grinned. "But I am older than you. I have a bit of field experience under my belt."

"You're only thirty four," Toph pointed out. "You make yourself sound like some all knowing old grandma who knows _so much _about the ailments of teenage girls."

The maid had to laugh at that. She removed the lid from a tiny silver platter she carried in with the tea and offered Toph one of the pastries that were held inside. She took the almost immediate acceptance of the treat as a sign that she was at least calming down, though the girl's grip on her teacup was proof enough that they weren't quite at the point she wanted the girl to be at.

"That's still plenty of years your senior. Plus, I've been a teenager. As corny as I'm making all of this sound, the point is that I can probably be of more help than you think. I just don't like the sight of you curled up in on yourself like you're moping. I know you, dear. You don't mope."

Well damn it all. She was (un)lucky enough to have a maid who actually cared; useful in many situations, just not this one. Toph decided not to answer and instead sampled another one of the pastries from the dish. There were easier things to think about anyway. This wasn't how she wanted to spend the rest of the afternoon. It was bad enough the morning ended apocalyptically (try as the little voice in her head might to convince her otherwise).

"Look, I just don't feel like it. Way too sticky to talk about. Not even worth it. Trust me," the girl promised, "you wouldn't want to get yourself trapped up in thoughts like those. Total labyrinth. I can't even find my way out."

The maid shrugged and sipped knowingly on her tea. "You sure? Two heads are better than one when it comes to finding a way out. I could be your guide…"

"We just _love_ talking in metaphors today, don't we?" Toph asked ill-humoredly.

"You're just all about the horrid attitude today aren't we?" the maid smirked.

Toph stared down at the dregs in her teacup and sighed. Fine, so she was acting bratty, but that was because she was upset and brooding. Nothing wrong with that, it was just a pain to be at the receiving end of such an onslaught coming from her. She sort of understood why the maid was frustrated with her and mumbled an apology. Not that it was an excuse for the behavior, but the woman knew how she could get. That was why she didn't really look upset when Toph snapped back. They had an understanding, but Toph liked to think that this maid in general knew her better than anyone else in the house—more than her parents even (not that it was difficult to know more than them, but again, not the point).

"It's alright. I don't take it personally. Plus no one likes getting into a mess when they're sick, right?"

"I guess," Toph muttered. Try as she might to cheer herself up, her thoughts were working against her at the moment. She didn't know what happened this morning, but all of a sudden she was growing quite scared. She didn't like it one bit.

Toph put her teacup back on the tray and curled back into her covers to keep warm. She turned on her side and poked her head out of the pile of quilts to stare at the maid. The woman didn't comment how the sight made Toph look like a little girl since she knew how the hotheaded teen would react.

"Cold?" she asked.

"A little bit. Probably just the fever." She was fully convinced at this point that she had caught something running around the city in the freezing rain.

"Do you want me to bring you anything?"

"Nah, I'm good. You know me. I sleep these things off over night. No big deal."

"I hope so," the maid replied. She almost let slip that her mother wouldn't be pleased if she was sick for another day, but adding that little tidbit hardly seemed appropriate. So she kept quiet for now. "But really, Toph, what's the matter with you?"

She never used her real name unless she was scolding her or extremely serious about what she was saying, plus Toph felt bad about worrying her. She may not have wanted to talk, but she felt bad just remaining quiet and keeping the only person in this entire house who probably cared about how she felt. It wasn't right.

"I just freaked myself out today," Toph replied honestly. "It's actually not that big of a deal when you think about it, but it still bothered me."

"The fact that you freaked out, or that something as trivial as this freaked you out?" Toph had to hand it to the woman: she was sharp.

Toph shrugged, but smiled at the sharp insight. "Both I guess. You know me, solid as a rock. I totally lost it though. I wouldn't exactly call it trivial either, just…"

"Just?" the maid pushed.

Toph let out a huge sigh and decided to change tactics and be evasive. "You promise something to yourself so absolutely and you swear that you're going to uphold it and not stray, and then all of a sudden your resolve just breaks. You can't help it, and you're upset that you couldn't stop it. And now it's the only thing going on in your head and you don't know whether it's because you're weak or the thing that broke your resolve is just that potent."

The maid nodded, but said nothing.

"I thought I had myself covered on all fronts, but apparently I left a gap and messed up. Then I freaked out," Toph finished. She recalled the moment again when Aang's eyes penetrated her deeply and left her breathless and she mentally kicked herself again.

"When you say freaked out, what do you mean?" the maid prompted.

"_This!_" Toph said exasperatedly. "This whole funk I've got myself in that I shouldn't be in in the first place. Anyone else wouldn't think it was a big deal, but it's bothering the hell out of me and I can't help it." Nothing happened between them. Aang probably saw this as nothing more than an extremely nice gesture with a little bit of character development to boot. They knocked down some annoying barriers and entered that hazy line between civility and acquaintanceship. That was it. But then again, he probably didn't realize the way he stared at her that shook her more than she would have liked.

It also brought up some irritating memories that she swore to lock away and never deal with. This insufferable boy was just all about shaking her up, even when he didn't mean to do so. That was why she was curled up in bed and sulking. Not the most productive thing she has ever done with her time, but it was all she felt like doing right now.

The maid clicked her tongue against her teeth in thought and stole another pastry. "Well," she finally spoke. "Is it really such a bad thing?"

"What do you mean?" Toph groaned.

"Well, and I'm a culprit of this myself, sometimes we keep things out that are good for us—things that we need."

Toph scoffed at that. "If this is what accepting this thing means for me, I will gladly do without it."

"No," the maid corrected. "You're like this because you choose to be."

The girl narrowed her eyes and stared at the maid who was sitting innocently at her bedside and waiting for a reaction. "Now you lost me."

The maid rolled her mirth-filled eyes, irritating Toph further. The younger girl was about to come up with a retort before the maid beat her to it.

"You spent goodness knows how long keeping this…_thing_ out. You set yourself up thinking that anything was good so long as it didn't distract you. You think the fact that you let it back in so suddenly is a sign of weakness, but maybe it's a sign of desperation. Maybe you've been depriving yourself for so long that you're subconsciously supplying yourself with what you need. It's not this thing that's turning you into this moping mess: it's your own fear. You freaked yourself out because you can't handle the intrusion of something so foreign to you. Hence this 'funk' you're in."

"And you're positive about that," Toph stated.

The maid nodded. "Almost completely. Of course, if you want to offer more information…"

Toph immediately shook her head at the suggestion and rolled over in her bed, a little less than happy about the introspection she was forced into this afternoon. This certainly wasn't the plan. Plus, the thought of her actually needing this confusion was preposterous. Right now, thoughts of Aang led to thoughts of…_him…_and that was the last place she wanted to head to right now.

"Let's talk about something else," Toph pleaded. Maybe she just needed some peace and quiet. Hopefully after that, she could write this all off as an overreaction and be done with the whole thing. The only thing that was bothering her was what Aang had told her before he ran out. _Don't worry, I'll find you_. She didn't even want to think about how their next meeting would pan out. It sounded like he needed to talk to her and she was just so fed up with _feeling_ right now. She really needed to sober up. Like now.

"Well, your mother wanted me to give you all of the work your tutor gave you to make up," the maid said, agreeing that changing the subject seemed like the better option. She hoped that the seed she planted helped a little bit. At least now Toph looked less like she was moping and more like she needed time to think. She reached under her chair and placed the assignments she needed to complete on her bedside table.

"I put some extra parchment in your desk in case you need it since it looked like there was a lot in that pile that you needed to get done. Maybe you can start with the readings?"

Toph nodded. A distraction was exactly what she needed. "I'll start it now. Call me when dinner is ready."

"Sure," the maid smiled. "Down with your parents or up in your room?"

The response was immediate. "Up in my room." She really didn't to speak with her parents right now either. 'Would you happen to know what's on the menu?"

"No, but I can certainly find out," the maid winked. Toph smiled back and watched as the maid let herself out of the room and left the girl alone in her bed. Toph flipped over on her stomach and buried her face in her pillow. She was tempted to scream into her pillow, but that seemed a little childish. To be completely honest, she wasn't hungry and she didn't feel like working. But it was either that or get stuck thinking. It wasn't a difficult decision.

Toph reached underneath her bed and selected a book from the collection that she kept under there. She poked around until she found one that her tutor assigned to her and opened up the book where she left off. It was a dull book written by a rather dull philosopher. Definitely not one she would have chosen for her personal library, but this seemed like the only time she would welcome the mind numbing material. Anyway, she was a terrible procrastinator when it came to work. Might as well get started since she had nothing else better to do.

The tea seemed to improve her condition. Her throat didn't feel like sandpaper anymore, at least that was an improvement. It seemed like staying inside for a few days was the better option anyway. She needed to stay away and think for a while. That's all she needed. Time and peace.

Toph sighed and leaned back against the headboard and propped the open book on her knees. As she read along, she couldn't stop the small part of her mind that was still thinking about this morning and how that homeless boy's eyes looked absolutely gorgeous when they sparkled with emotion.

**OOO**

_**A/N:**__ A chapter I never meant to include, mainly because it was so short and was just introspection into one single character. But I think it was an interesting little chapter to add for the sake of explanation for future chapters, despite the fact that I'm not all that happy with it for some reason (maybe it's a writer thing…)_

_I know I'm rubbish with updating, and even though I know you probably won't believe me, I am trying. I see people faving and alerting this story and I don't have it in my heart to stop writing. The next chapter will be longer, more interesting, and come sooner (this I promise you all). _


	11. Hesitance

_**A/N: **__…you know I was staring at the Image Manager thing, and I was wondering what in the world kind of cover this story would get. I feel like I would need to draw it myself…which sucks because I can't even hold a pencil. Maybe we can settle with stick figures…what do you all think about that? XD_

_Ah…I'll stop talking now. _

**OOO**

**Chapter 11**

**Hesitance**

**OOO**

Aang didn't quite realize exactly how short on food and water he was until he actually had the ability to venture out and stock up on necessities. It was almost abysmal to look at. While things had certainly been worse, they hadn't been this bad in a while, which left Aang with a very unsettling feeling curling inside of him. But it only took a week for him to have a nice collection of food and water in his apartment.

Every year, a noble family—oh, he forgot their names…started with a "C" if he remembered correctly—liked to go and vacation in the middle of the winter to an island resort they were fond of. When they came back, there was always a congregation of people who liked to make a huge spectacle of their return, similar to the way they did when the Bei Fong's returned from their travels all those months ago. But, as always, Aang paid more attention to the coins that people stupidly threw into the street as gifts for the nobles. Usually the servants following close behind would pick up as much as they could, but Aang was always quick and discreet.

The coins jingling in his pocket that day got him direct passage into shops, market booths, and bakeries without him having to be a thief about it. After all, there were some gold coins on the ground. As stupid as the person was who threw them, Aang certainly wasn't complaining. That got him three large jugs of water that would last him a couple of weeks. All in all, things were going well.

Aang walked down the streets while nibbling on his breakfast—a small chunk of bread and some fruit that he bought with the last of his money this morning. Along with the thick, warm coat he was wearing, he probably didn't even look like the street crawler passerby always pegged him as. It was a nice break from having to deal with the scathing looks and harsh comments that he received in the streets. He didn't particularly pay them any mind, but that didn't make them any less annoying to deal with.

Finishing off the last of his bread, Aang spotted the establishment he had been searching for. Nestled right in the middle of the line of buildings was a popular tavern that Aang sometimes floated into when he was in the mood for something strong during those times where he was particularly stressed. However, he knew for a fact that Jet frequented this place more than he would ever admit aloud, so Aang figured that this was his best bet at the moment.

Stepping inside, Aang noticed a few patrons still sleeping on the tables with drinks still clenched in their hands from the night before. A few travelers were filing out of the rooms above and making their way out the door and towards the road for the morning. At the moment, the owner was wiping the counter and counting his glasses to make sure that he would be ready for the few stragglers who would probably want to come down and have something for breakfast as well.

Aang nodded to the owner as he sat down at one of the chairs at the counter. "Nice to see you again, Chin."

"Hey, kid," Chin grinned. The burly man walked down towards Aang's seat and nudged his arm. "Haven't seen you in a while. Almost thought you left me here with all of these drunks."

Aang laughed as he turned his head at one of the customers to fell out of his chair and was startled awake. "Yeah, about that…shouldn't you start cleaning them up? They're starting to smell."

Chin stared out at the tables, winced, and shook his head. "Eh, I'll leave 'em there for a bit. They'll stumble out of here eventually."

"You say that now…that one looks like he can sleep his hangover off right there on the floor." As Aang said this, the man who had fallen out of his chair curled up into a ball and fell right back asleep, muttering something about bright lights.

Chin shook his head. "Like I said…wait 'till customers start pouring in. I'll kick 'em out with my own foot later. They won't feel a thing, watch." Aang laughed and rested his chin on the counter. For a man that boasted about despising drunk people, he sure loved embarrassing them. The nights were the best, because brawls only lasted seconds before Chin came barreling in with his immense stature and stopping any sort of mayhem from ruining his tavern's reputation. Not that said reputation was particularly profound, but it was still important to make sure people wanted to come back.

"So don't tell me you're here for a drink this early in the morning," Chin warned Aang. "Because I don't care how much I like you. You're not buying anything from me."

"Don't worry Chin. Not my thing." Aang mostly came in here for a good chat with Chin. Occasionally, Chin would ask him to help out around the tavern in exchange for some spare coins. The few times Aang had managed to break up a fight, Chin slipped him a bag of silver and told him to go eat dinner somewhere nice. He was a nice guy and had been helping out Aang ever since he was young and without any way to make money or get food.

"Actually, I was hoping you could tell me if someone came and rented a room last night," Aang asked hopefully.

"Jet?" Chin deadpanned.

Aang nodded and smiled. "And probably a girl to go along with him." Jet had been in a pretty good mood lately, what with his new coats and the huge amount of food that he had gotten yesterday from a lucky steal. No doubt he would go out and celebrate about it. Added to the fact that so much had been going on lately and he hadn't gotten a chance to relax in weeks, this was the only place Aang would think to look for Jet this morning. It wasn't exactly a hard deduction to make.

Chin sighed. "Yeah, I saw him come in with some girl. Looked freakin' happy about it too. I think I've seen her somewhere though. Works at that tea shop you like so much…one of the waitresses…the young one with the braids?"

"Jin?" Aang asked before receiving a nod from Chin as his response. _Figures_, he thought. Aang sometimes talked to her when he stopped in there for some food or a cup of jasmine. She was nice enough and made good conversation, except of course when she tried hitting on the male customer sitting two booths down. The girl asked out any guy her age she ran into. She was basically the female version of Jet, except she was a little bit more particular and classy about her choices. Plus, her dates didn't always end in a bedroom. Well, sans this one apparently.

"Do you know what room he's in?" Aang asked. "I kind of need him."

Chin pointed to his right. "Up the stairs, third floor, door at the end of the hall."

"The double room?" Aang asked incredulously. "Did he seriously pay you for that?"

Chin nodded happily. "He sure did. I mean, I would have told you. But two people staying overnight in that room equals good business. You can't exactly blame me, you know."

"I'm not it's just…dammit," Aang cursed. "The first thing he does with a pocketful of money." At least Aang had the decency to spend all of that noble money on extra meals. Jet would rather steal his meals and spend his money on something like this than save up. He didn't know why he was so upset. Aang tried talking Jet out of making stupid decisions like this, but the teen never listened.

Chin shrugged, almost as if there really wasn't anything abnormal about the teen's behavior. He was a man, plus Chin saw this kind of thing happen all too often. It wasn't something he bothered to bat a lash at, so to speak. "He paid for an overnight visit, so I wouldn't have an issue with you kicking him out."

"You're the best Chin," Aang grinned, getting up from his seat. "I'll stop by later this week and catch up, okay?" Chin nodded in response and left Aang to go search for his friend.

Aang trudged up the stairs and walked down the dimly lit hall on the third floor filled with rooms for various lodgers. Most were left open and were being cleaned by the rest of the employees that worked here and a few lodgers were already exiting their rooms and going on their way. However, certain smells from some of the rooms immediately told Aang that some of these men weren't just using the rooms to rest after a long day of traveling.

The last room at the end of the hallway was of course still closed, and Aang decided on being nice and knocking first. After several tries of receiving no answer, Aang noticed that the door was unlocked and decided to quietly enter.

The room was dark and stuffy with the curtains drawn and the windows locked tight. Aang walked over the windows, drew the curtains, and cracked them open just a bit. It was a little chilly outside, but the cold would sober Jet up. The boy in question was sprawled across the bed in a pile of body parts, blankets, and dark hair. As Aang was shedding his coat to place it on the dresser in the corner, he noted with curiosity that there was a distinct lack of a female lying along next to his best friend.

To his poorly hidden amusement, Aang noticed the piece of parchment left on the desk next to the bed. Picking it up and scanning the hasty writing, Aang couldn't help but chuckle to himself. _Well, he will certainly find this hilarious. _

There was movement in the bed and Aang heard Jet's muffled and groggy mutters coming from underneath the sheets. "Hey, Jin, sweetie, come back to bed. It's kinda early to be up, huh?"

Aang outright laughed this time as he sat on the edge of the bed. "Sorry, _sweetie_. I doubt you want _me_ keeping you warm under there."

Jet jumped at the baritone voice and sat ramrod-straight in his bed and gave Aang a look that could only be described of being filled with abject horror. "What the hell are _you_ doing here? Dammit, why the hell is the window open, you idiot?"

The insults didn't hurt. If anything, Aang was trying to keep from smiling too much. "I figured you'd be terribly hung over so I thought the cold would do you some good." Aang leaned against the headboard and propped his feet up on the sheets and pillows. "You should be thanking me for being here with you when you got up."

The dark haired boy seemed to be slow in coming to terms with his surroundings. He was squinting into the light and rubbing his temples. The room smelled distinctly of alcohol, so Aang figured that Jet had celebrated his ass off last night, to say the least. Jet muttered something about Jin and wondering where she had gone until his entire body froze. He looked at Aang in terror and spoke slowly.

"Wait a minute…where the hell is…do _not_ tell me that I was _that_ out of it…"

Aang smacked Jet behind the head and scowled fiercely. "Oh, _please_! Look, I might not get as much action as you do but even I wouldn't stoop that low. Least of all with you."

The other boy nodded at his stupidity. "Yeah, yeah, okay. I figured as much anyway. It's just—a guy has to make sure. You get me?"

"Not really," Aang frowned. In fact, now that he thought about it, he didn't think he would ever put himself in this kind of position and would probably _never _understand.

Jet wiped a hand down his face and blinked across the room. "So, if you're here, then where's Jin? You haven't seen her have you?"

Aang struggled to keep the smile off of his face as he attempted to give Jet an answer. "About that…" Aang reached across the desk and opened up the letter that he found. He held it up with a flourish and looked rather smug as he told Jet, "Your girlfriend left you."

It seemed that the information took a few seconds to make sense to Jet because the boy looked at Aang stupidly before muttering, "What do you mean?"

Not one to pass up an I-Told-You-So moment, Aang cleared his throat dramatically and began to read the letter. "'Dear Jet. I had a great time last night but I'm not really ready for this kind of relationship. You're a great guy, but I think I'd rather move on and not get serious. Thanks for everything though. Sorry. From, Jin.'" Aang folded up the note and threw it in Jet's direction. "I would translate that as a break-up. But then again what do I know? I don't date or have one night stands, so maybe I'm just sounding like an idiot."

Jet grabbed the piece of paper in shock and quickly read through the letter a few times. "She _left?_" he finally exclaimed. Jet groaned, covered his eyes with his arm, and fell down against the mattress. "I can't believe this is happening to me." _Really, because I can_, Aang thought. But he was sure that would get him a well-placed punch. One that he would no doubt deserve, but he decided he'd rather opt out of that.

Instead, Aang looked around the room and found a pitcher of water and a small mug. Figuring that Jet's head was killing him due to his activities last night, he poured his friend a cup of water and handed it to him, ordering him to drink it so that he could feel better. Still refusing to uncover his eyes, Jet gulped down the water and kept muttering unintelligible phrases.

Aanf sighed. "I know you don't want to heart his from me now, but can't you find yourself a sweet, nice girl and—oh, I don't know—get to know her before you take her to a seedy place like this? Honestly, I could have told you it wouldn't end well."

"Look, at least I had a good time," Jet retorted. "That's more than I can say for you."

A low blow, but Jet was pretty snippy when he was hung over. "At least the girls I run into stick around for more than a week. _And_ they've never run out on me with a dumb excuse that they came up with in five seconds that was beautifully transcribed in a tacky letter. I'm sorry, my friend, but that's not what I call a victory."

Jet rolled over. "Whatever, man. Way to kick me while I'm down."

The grey eyes boy shrugged and took back the letter before crumbling it up and throwing it in the corner of the room. "Look. I've never seen Jin juggle a guy for more than a day anyway. The fact that she slept with you must mean something, right?"

Jet picked up on the jab of humor and couldn't help but react sarcastically. "Haha," Jet retorted with a frown. "Very funny."

Aang merely dismissed Jet's attitude. He was already cranky in the mornings. Add in the fact that he was hung over and he was the one that got ditched the morning after and not the other way around, and you had a wonderful mood to deal with. It was sort of a ritual at this point, and Aang was used to the way Jet ran his social life. He didn't agree with it, but he didn't really mind it either.

It could have been a lot worse, and he could have fallen into worse shape. At least Jet had the head to know that certain things took priority. Aang was a witness to the fact that Jet took their friendship seriously and wouldn't let anything come in between that. They had known each other for too long to let insignificant things get in the way of that. So Aang would dutifully come in like the hero that he was and rescue Jet from embarrassing mornings and make sure that he got home okay.

Of course, there was always the added perk of being guaranteed a favor later on. Aang was perfectly ready to cash in on that assurance today.

The stench in the room was starting to make Aang's head dizzy. He was running short on time and he needed to get out of here. He poked Jet in the shoulder and lifted his chin towards the door. "Can we get out of here? This place reeks of alcohol."

Jet nodded and reached down to the floor to collect his discarded clothing. Aang picked up his coat and closed the windows, deciding to leave the curtains drawn. As Jet was searching underneath the bed for his shoes, Aang decided that while Jet was distracted would be a perfect opportunity to be repaid for coming and getting him this early in the morning.

"I need you to help me with something," Aang said casually. He supposed that it might have been possible for him to do this by himself, but it would certainly make things a lot easier if he had some help.

Jet looked up warily at Aang as he slipped on his boots. "When you say…something…what do you mean exactly?"

Aang scratched the back of his head in nervousness and was almost about to opt out of telling Jet anything. But then again, the mission would look a little strange if he didn't admit exactly what his intentions were. "Remember that girl we saved in the market?"

At first, Jet regarded Aang with a puzzled look, not quite sure where Aang was going with this line of thought. But realization must have hit him because he immediately scowled and immediately started shaking head in complete refusal. "Oh, no. No, no, I am _not_ helping you with your girl problems."

"Oh, like that's fair!" Aang shot back. "Look at all the times I've helped you with your issues. Besides, this doesn't even come close to what I've had to do for you." He still could feel the scratch marks on his cheek from the last altercation he had with one of Jet's jealous girlfriends.

Jet made a noise that could have almost been comparable to that of a whine. "I'm not about to climb balconies and deliver presents to girls or send them messages. I sprained my wrist the last time I did that. You wound up only seeing that girl for a couple of weeks, anyway. She dumped you or something."

Aang looked affronted and crossed his arms across his chest defensively. "She moved, and it was mutual. Look, that only happened once. Please? This isn't nearly as complicated. I just need you to create a little diversion for me."

Jet huffed and buttoned the last few clasps on his coat before he gestured for Aang to follow him out of the room. "What kind of diversion are we talking about?" he called over his shoulder. "It's nothing embarrassing, is it? Because I would like to walk away with what little dignity I have left today."

"It's nothing bad," Aang assured him with a roll of his eyes. "I think you can handle it."

Jet looked a little reluctant to go through with this, but it wasn't like he had much of a choice. Aang knew that Jet knew that he owed Aang after this morning. The two of them lived off of the eye-for-an-eye philosophy for years and it didn't take much for Jet to succumb to it. "Alright. I'll help. But I don't see how any of your gushy stuff is going to work this time. That girl doesn't look the type for that kind of stuff."

"Don't I know it," Aang muttered inaudibly. He realized that the last time his friend had seen her, she was telling off a man twice her size. If that didn't scream substance, he didn't know what did. Even though, this was going to be different than in past experiences. Aang just needed a chance to talk to her in a civil setting without letting anyone get wind of it, not even Jet. He remembered when he told Jet about the green-eyed noble he ran into. If he put two and two together, it would cause more harm than good. However, this was the only plan he could come up with that would ensure no one would catch on to anything. For it to work, he needed Jet's help.

"We should do it soon though," Aang continued, breaking off from his thoughts. "I kind of want to get this done as quickly as possible."

Jet nodded. "Lead the way."

**OOO**

Thankfully, Jin didn't come to work today. It would've made the entire mission nothing short of completely awkward and Jet no doubt would have outright refused to enter the tea shop knowing that she was in there. Again, dignity. Couldn't function without that, now could he? Aang was confident that everything would go without a hitch.

Aang was seated in the corner of the shop and tried to appear aloof while he watched Jet talk to the elderly owner. He idly traced the outline of the paper in his pocket with his fingers and wondered to himself if this really was a good idea. This would be the first time that he actually sought out Toph purposefully and not due to mere coincidence. For some reason, this thought made him a bit nervous. He wasn't sure if she would agree to what he was about to propose even if it didn't seem like anything out of the ordinary for anyone else. Any other girl that Aang had seen in the past had been pretty easy to please, yet at the same time there wasn't any urgency or need behind the feelings he felt for them. They were very simple girls that didn't require any convincing. It was half the reason why they never made enough of an impact on him to make him want to keep them around for long.

This felt like an entirely different matter altogether. It was like stepping on broken glass. There was a precarious path that he could take that would ensure a preferable outcome, but one wrong move would lead to a casualty—a casualty that he wasn't sure could be easily recovered from. Underneath all of that attitude and stubbornness seemed to be a hint of tentativeness. He wasn't sure why, but when he last saw her…she seemed scared. Of what, he didn't know. She was the one who had initiated the entire exchange of gifts. He didn't know why she would feel the need to be apprehensive.

_Maybe I came on too strong_, he mused to himself. He shook his head at that thought. All he did was thank her. It was necessary as well. She damn near saved his life for all he knew; she had to have known that. Normally, people weren't scared away by a show of thanks, at least not the people that Aang knew. But it wasn't even that…at least not completely. To be honest, he had no idea why he was doing this. Intrigue. That was his only answer. For a girl that kicked him down in the street, she seemed to take a rather keen interest in his business. Not that he minded, but she didn't have to bother. Yet she did. That was enough for him to want to speak to her again.

He saw Jet lead the tea shop owner towards the door. The boy had an arm slung over the man's shoulders and seemed to be speaking to him in a reassuring manner. "It's probably nothing, sir," Aang heard Jet whisper. "I just want to make sure that no one's messing with your stock out back. You never know what those low lives are doing when you're not looking…"

As the pair exited, Aang took that as his opportunity to stand and make his way to the back of the shop. Customers were too busy trying to leave and drinking their tea to pay too much attention to the lanky boy slinking behind the counter and moving into the back storerooms.

There were boxes filled with kettles and tea sets that hadn't been opened yet. There were old broken tables, dirty tablecloths, and extra chairs that were usually brought out in case the place got really crowded. More crates and boxes were piled up high along the walls and in the middle of the room no doubt filled with tea that the owner had bought in order to keep the menu interesting. Aang wasn't sure where to look, and only hoped that Jet was as good at creating diversions as he said. The clanging from the kitchen and the murmur from the dining room dulled to a low hum as Aang went into another room deeper into the shop.

He entered a short hallway and saw that there was only one other room. It looked to be where the owner slept during late nights when he couldn't make it home. His coat and scarf were hung in a corner on a hook next to an old cot covered in knit quilts and blankets. On the desk in the corner were piles of tickets and receipts along with a chest where the money was probably kept. Aang's fingers instinctually twitched at the sight of the lock that would have been far too easy to pick, but had easily ignored it and switched to trying to find what he was looking for.

It took a moment to locate, but there in the corner of the man's room was a small pile of hardcover books held together with a leather strap. The sight made Aang smile and think back to the first confrontational meeting that they had. Her name was even scratched into the leather strap, only further confirming his discovery.

Aang looked at the covers of the books and was again surprised to see that he recognized many of the titles. He either owned them himself of had seen them when passing the bookshop window. He wouldn't have necessarily pegged such an impatient girl as a reader, but here before him were all books that he had both enjoyed and envied for years. He even let out a laugh when he saw that the girl had requested _The Runaway_ sequel that he had mentioned to her ages ago.

She wasn't the type, it seemed, that was entranced by fanciful tales and idealistic stories. He saw nothing of the sort in the pile the old owner had compiled for her. Aang thought they were all filled with clever little lies and false hopes that would leave ones terribly disappointed if they believed in them too much. He—and it seemed she as well—preferred to read about life and about real people. They were raw and filled with reality. The lives of real people and how they struggled to move on. Sometimes the endings were happy, other times they weren't. Sometimes they left you with a bittersweet feeling—one that made you realize that ending things imperfectly was probably the most beautiful way to finish.

A pampered, rich heiress understood that.

His chest started to swell with a feeling that he couldn't place. The more and more he learned and observed about this girl, the less and less he understood. Yet it didn't deter him from wanting to keep her close. But what did that even mean? What was he after? Was this just a sense of strange curiosity, or was he unconsciously after something else? He knew that she was a conundrum that he probably would never encounter in his life ever again, but was that all?

Aang's mind started to veer into confusing territory. His thoughts started racing again in its attempts to come up with a viable answer, but he knew that this was neither the time nor the place. Jet was probably on his way back with the owner and Aang needed to get out of here before anyone noted anything suspicious. Despite how little his devious reputation bothered him, he really did not want to be caught in a compromising position in this shop. The old man didn't deserve it and he didn't want to give off a strange impression.

He pulled out a folded note from his pocket and slipped it into the front cover of _The Runaway_ that was nestled on the top of the pile. As he snuck out of the back rooms and re-entered the dining room, he saw his friend leading the owner back in just in time. Aang waited against the wall for the exchange to finish and hoped in the back of his mind that this plan of his actually worked.

**OOO**

Toph didn't remember when she had fallen asleep on the table. She only realized she had dozed off when she opened her eyes to find that the entire tea shop was completely empty and the old man was already stacking the chairs on top of the table. Her eyes blinked rapidly for a moment and rubbed the red spot on her cheek where she had been resting on her arms. She reached out for the pot of tea that she had ordered that night, but realized that it was already far too cold for her to enjoy. The shop closed very late, so she knew that she had been here for a while.

"Awake yet, dear?" the owner called out from across the shop with a smile. "Everyone's already gone home, and I was about to close up the shop. A young girl like you shouldn't be out this late."

Toph rubbed her eyes and let out a sigh that sounded far too heavy for her tastes. "Sorry, Yin. I'm just…really exhausted. I didn't mean to fall out for so long."

Yin nodded his head and continued to wipe down the tables. "You looked rather spent when you walked in," he noted with furrowed brows. "Something wrong?"

The girl stood up from the table and brought her untouched tea to the front counter along with the money that she owed. "Nothing short of the usual, unfortunately."

"A fight with your mother?"

Toph let out a sarcastic snort. "More like a full on war." Toph never revealed who her parents actually were, but it didn't stop her from stopping by and spilling to Yin whenever she could. The altercation had happened right before Toph had went to sleep and the yelling this time around had been booming. Not even her father—who usually always had some sort of input when it came to matters concerning her daughter—dared interfere. The entire ordeal did nothing short of leave Toph so wired up she couldn't sleep. So, while her parents were asleep in their beds and after she was sure that the maids were safely downstairs in their quarters, Toph snuck out the front door and went to the only person she knew would be around this late.

After Yin disappeared into the kitchen, Toph decided to follow and help out with the dishes that she had dirtied. She didn't mind the menial task since she needed to take her frustration out on something. Scrubbing seemed to be the only tame and civil thing she could do to let out her frustration that had grown now that her thoughts had strayed back to less than pleasant matters.

Toph expected Yin to ask what had gotten her so upset, but he remained strangely silent as the two of them began lathering up the last of the dishes and placing them on the counter to dry. Her curiosity got the better of her, and she wanted to get the conversation over with as soon as possible. So she asked, "Aren't you going to ask what happened?"

"Do you want to tell me?" Yin replied simply.

Toph refused to meet eyes with Yin who she knew was far too wise for his own good. "Not really."

The man chuckled as he laid down the kettle next to him after it had been sufficiently washed. "Then I won't pry. Besides, it sounds as if I'll be on the receiving end of the argument if you go through a retelling." Toph flinched at that and sent Yin a look of apology. She remembered the last time she had exploded in front of Yin. There was yelling and broken tea cups involved because she got so worked up. Yin insisted that the damages were nothing that she needed to worry about, but the guilt made her cough up a hefty amount of money as an apology.

"Though," Yin said, breaking Toph's thoughts. "I still think that running away doesn't solve anything."

Her fingers clenched around the cloth she was holding. "I'm not running away. I could be upstairs in my room crying about it and wishing that I lived in a land filled with candy and sweets where everyone loves me." The idea of it made Toph cringe. She knew that there was no benefit in hoping for better times. Despite how much it didn't seem so, Toph knew her limits and knew how much it took for her anger to become so explosive that cleaning up afterwards would become impossible. Instead of seething about it and picking more fights, she chose to leave and get some air. She thought that was preferable to moping about it.

"I don't mean running away from the problem. I mean running away from your parents," Yin clarified. He took this moment to put down what was in his hands and regard Toph with all of his attention. "This is the fourth time you've come here so late because you can't stand speaking with her. Don't you think things would be better solved if the two of you just—"

"_No_," Toph interrupted firmly. Her scrubbing became a little bit more enthusiastic as she continued. "I try, Yin. I really do. But she doesn't want to listen. So I'm not going to try anymore."

Yin sighed. "I know you're upset with her. But I don't feel right about you reacting this way. No matter what you say or think…she's your mother."

"And I'm her daughter." Toph ended the sentence by placing the last cup a little too roughly back onto the counter. Respect wasn't a one-way street. She had no intention of acquiescing to any of her mother's demands when her voice wasn't even considered in the household. Her father was almost just as bad what with his overprotective nature taking over at the most inconvenient times. Then when she really needed his attention, he was aloof and "too busy" to bother. Her mother would just dismiss her in a similar matter.

They gave off so many mixed messages. One minute they cared so much they suffocated her, and the next they didn't care at all. It wasn't even the overprotective nature, either. There was just this…wall in between them that she couldn't yell through to make them see or understand. No matter how hard she tried to get close or to try and remain civil with them, they closed her out. Today, when her mother came upstairs and started talking about…

Toph sighed. _No, stop thinking about it_, she told herself. It wasn't a good use of her time to keep replaying the argument that she hated having. Her mother brought it up more and more and more each day. Her father refused to get involved and Toph felt like kicking and screaming.

"Well," Yin continued carefully, seeing the girl's annoyance. "I won't push you to do anything. It's your choice. And you know you're always welcome here whenever you need to talk."

Toph finally looked up at Yin and regretted her reaction. He never looked at her with pity and never tried to force decisions on her. He always looked at her with nothing short of concern and patient understanding, and it made her understand just why he wanted to help her so much. She imagined she looked an absolute mess coming out so late and sleeping right there on the table like she had no where else to go. "Sorry," she muttered quietly. "I was being rude."

"Don't even waste your time worrying about it," Yin smiled. "Like I said: this is your problem. You deal with it your way and how you're comfortable. I won't push."

Toph would have said thanks, but the words got caught in her throat and she could only nod and turn her head away. She immediately felt herself exuding too much of what she was feeling and her defensiveness immediately began to pull her back and start putting up protective walls all over again. Deciding to change the subject, Toph turned to Yin and asked, "Can you take me back home?" She always asked him to drive her to a street that was only a few blocks away from the entrance to the Estates. The neighborhood was safe enough that she didn't mind walking from there.

"Of course," Yin promised her. "But before I do, I've got the books you wanted."

Toph's spirits brightened a little bit when she heard the news. She was getting rather bored with her lessons back at home and needed so more leisurely reading to keep her occupied when circumstances wouldn't allow her to leave home like she did today. Yin was more than happy to give away the books he knew he didn't need and had no intention of using. Selling them would have been an option, but he told Toph that he would rather give them away for free to someone he knew would use them.

Yin left the books on the counter and promised to take her home once he collected his things. The first book that Toph eagerly pulled out of the pile was _The Runaway_ book she had been pining after. As she ran her fingers down the spine, she remembered back when Aang had followed her and told her about what he had read in it. She laughed at the memory, remembering how it had ended for the both of them, and immediately shook the memory off. It had taken her days to get over the funk she had unwillingly pushed herself in over their last encounter.

She still didn't fully understand it, and wasn't sure that she really wanted to. There was something so raw about how uninhibited he was with her that it was difficult for her to handle. It was the first time that she was so unprepared in front of a person in her life. She was very good at handling situations with people and knew exactly how she should react. But with him…she was just a gaping fish unsure if she should run and hide or come forward and accept what she was being offered.

It was entirely ironic how as she was thinking this, a small note had fallen out of the front cover of the book she had picked out. Assuming that it was probably a scrap piece of paper left in the book by accident, she didn't worry too much about what the paper would say. But as she opened the clean paper and read the words printed carefully on it, a familiar feeling rose up in her chest again—a feeling that she hadn't yet decided was good or bad.

Her fingers clutched the note and her fingers shook only a little before she willed them to stop. She didn't want to seem too affected by the note's content. Yin was still very close by and she didn't want to reveal too much. But the confusion that she had went through so much trouble to lift for the past week suddenly descended down on her in a heap that left her speechless. She didn't move for a long time as she reread the short note over and over again, weighing her options and deciding what to do.

She hid the note under her cloak when Yin finally came out from the room and helped her onto the cart that he used to deliver stock back and forth from his shop. At least the cool air outside helped her mind function a little better. The tea shop was beginning to get stuffy and she appreciated the fresh air and the sounds of the wheels collapsing against the ground below her. Soon she would be home and she could finally curl up in her bed and forget about the fight that had been keeping her up.

But now something else entirely was invading her thoughts. While Yin's eyes were focused on the road, Toph pulled out the note and kept staring at it, as if she expected it to say something else. At the very least, she knew that she would have a long time to think about it. She certainly wasn't getting any sleep tonight anyway.

**OOO**

_**A/N:**__ Anyone else frustrated that Toph can't make up her damn mind? XD My version of Toph never escaped her house when she was 12 and traversed the world and breathed the true air of freedom. She's older and more restricted in this story, and I wanted her to experience some rather harsh realities concerning her status and her family. As a result, I think her gut reactions to certain situations would different, hence why we are all frustrated as to why Toph is being do dishonest with herself. But not to worry. All will be resolved in time. _

_I know there was a lot of Aang and Toph interacting with other people in this chapter, but it's all part of the master plan. Your emotions and reactions are all influenced by something, and I want to play around with that as much as I can. And…I like being in on the secret! XD Lots of things left unanswered about these two. You'll just have to wait and see what they are._

_Alright. That about wraps it up. Until we meet again! _


	12. Similarity

**A/N: Important author's note** at the end of this chapter (since I owe you all an explanation). But hopefully this chapter and news on **future updates** will make up for the absence? (Probably not but I can try).

**OOO**

**Chapter 12**

**Similarity**

**OOO**

_Dammit, dammit, dammit, dammit, __**dammit!**_

Aang reached out and yanked on a curtain hanging over the awning of a booth selling fabric so that it floated backwards and flew right into the face of a very large, very fast, and very, _very angry_ baker who was dead set on making sure that he left Gaoling today with Aang's hands as trophies to hang in his living room tonight. The diversion Aang created only bought the boy a few seconds before he looked back to see a pair of meaty hands quickly pull the cloth out of the way.

The teen cursed and turned a quick corner, maneuvering through a narrow side street filled with crates and old, broken carts that were abandoned and left to collect dust. The baker, however, just as easily passed through the labyrinth of wood and was doing an excellent job at keeping up with the speedy street boy. Aang emerged from the street, looked back and forth, and bolted left.

He wasn't paying attention when he grabbed all those biscuits and rolls. He honestly thought that the man was selling these things by himself. While he was occupied with a customer Aang—hiding behind the booth—reached across and start filching as many things he could fit into his coat pockets. Unfortunately, the man had a young assistant that had just come back to the booth and caught Aang red handed. The baker's face turned a mix between bright red and mottled purple as he sprinted after Aang in complete anger.

It was justifiable. Aang pulled a jerk move today. He was carrying at least five silver pieces worth of food. That meant he needed to be more careful and he wasn't. Miscalculation. Just perfect.

_Shit, _Aang inwardly cursed. This was not part of the plan when he came out to get some dinner. Now, he was going to be late.

As if some higher being suddenly opened its eyes and realized just how damn inconvenient this chase was, Aang turned another corner and was met face to face with a tall wall that was separating the residential twists and turns from the north side of the main avenue.

Aang pulled the bread from his arms and tied it as securely as he could while still running. He flung the load clear over the wall, jumped up, planted his foot well into the stone of the wall, and scaled up to the top as quickly as he could. Not two seconds after both his feet touched the top, he heard the thud of the man colliding with the wall and trying to catch up with the thief. Aang didn't look back to check if he had made it over after all.

The bread was scooped up as Aang started running through the main streets of the city, making confusing and sharp turns to make sure that he would lose the baker in case he decided to follow. Luckily, after about two minutes, Aang finally looked behind him and saw no large men trying to chase after him.

Aang slowed to a job and doubled over with his hands on his knees, trying to gulp in enough oxygen and catch his breath. "Crap, that was close," Aang muttered to himself out loud. He had to admit, he hadn't been chased for that long in a while, and he was kind of getting scared that he wouldn't get away with that steal. But so far the coast was clear, and Aang could enjoy a quick meal on the way to his destination.

He turned around and looked over his shoulder, realizing with a sigh that he would have to do a bit of backtracking to get back to the main square in time. With a wary look back towards the wall, Aang ignored the cursing of the baker and started walking the long way back to the center of the city.

If he was being completely honest with himself, Aang really had very little natural talent when it came to entertaining girls in any matter. Let alone that he could probably spin a great many pretty words and also find gifts that would no doubt leave most starry eyed for days, there was something so damn awkward about hanging around a girl all the time. However, it never felt necessary until now, given the recent development with Toph, and it didn't feel nearly as romantic or oversaturated as it normally felt with all the other girls he'd even fancied.

There was just something niggling in the back of his brain and keeping him awake for a couple of nights at the thought of her finding that note that filled him with a double dose of fear as well as a sense of completion. Half of it had to do with the guilt of being so horrid to her when she was only trying to help—despite how hard he tried in the moment to show that he was being stupid and that he really appreciated her—and the other half was simply due to an unnamed feeling that was pushing him to not let this tentative bond fizzle out and die before it even got the chance to get itself off the ground. He was still trying to figure out what that meant, exactly, but at the very least this would be a good chance to show Toph that he wasn't ungrateful. What this wound up making them afterwards was beyond him. He was banking on "friends" for now, but even that thought had his heart jumping like he wanted more.

Aang shook his head to dispel the thoughts, bit off a large piece of bread, and started chewing on it thoughtfully. He raised a brow at the flavor—he didn't know bread could have a spice to it…was it from another country?—and looked around for something to wash it down with. Conveniently enough, he saw a small establishment with a wooden bar table as its only form of seating, and a tray of cups filled with water that looked like they were about to be given out to the few patrons sitting there. With a practiced ease and slight of hand, Aang discreetly took a cup and slipped it underneath his coat without slowing his step. The owner looked preoccupied with his customers and didn't seem to see anything, and yes Aang was _sure_ there were no other mysterious employees to catch him this time.

He was about to lift the cup to his lips and take a large drink before an arm reached over his shoulder and plucked the cup from his hands before he could blink or say anything in protest. He turned around quickly, prepared to push the offender away from him and make a run for it, but instead he was met with a pair of bright green eyes filled with mirth staring at him with mild reproach. He blinked for a moment, not expecting her to sneak up behind him and scare him like that, but she looked amused more than anything else

"I saw that," Toph smirked, holding the cup away from him while he blinked in her direction, trying to figure out how he had not noticed her presence. "I have to admit, you almost make it look easy."

Aang grumbled under his breath. "You should have seen me like ten minutes ago. Then you can come back to me and talk about how 'easy' it is." He furrowed his brows for a moment, looked back at Toph and questioned, "Wait, how did you—?"

Toph pulled out a familiar piece of parchment from her pocket, and Aang immediately felt heat rush into his cheeks once he realized that it was the note that he had left her a couple of days ago in the books she was picking up from the tea shop. She held it in between her middle and index fingers, waving it around like an incriminating piece of evidence while she smiled at his embarrassment.

"This was your doing, wasn't it?" she teased. "The main square of the city, right after sundown. You're late, by the way. So I wandered around looking for you. You popped out from behind a building and I saw you stealing a drink," she laughed, looking into the cup in her hands and sniffing what was inside.

Aang scowled through his embarrassment and hoped his exasperation would cover up the blush. "Look, I'm not _that_ bad," he said, frowning at the action.

Toph laughed and handed the drink of water back to him. "I was just making sure," she smirked deviously. "I never know with you."

Nerves got the better of him, and Aang scratched the back of his head out of a nervous habit. "Come on, lay off. It's way too early for that," he said trying to avoid eye contact with her. He frowned in frustration, took a large bite of his bread, and guzzled down the water before she took it away from him again.

Toph started walking back in the direction of the square and looked back over her shoulder at him. "Where did you get the bread?"

Aang rolled his eyes. "Haha, very funny," he scowled.

"Ah, I see," Toph nodded. "This was that 'ten minutes ago' ordeal? What fun."

"You have no idea," Aang continued. "It's the highlight of my day."

Toph raised a brow. "And I thought I was heavy with the sarcasm."

"Well, when you hang out with the right people, the sarcasm kind of comes automatically," he shrugged.

Toph chuckled and nodded as she stuck her hands in her pockets. "Tell me about it."

Aang jogged in front of her until he was carefully walking backwards in time with her steps. She rolled her eyes at him, smiled, and asked, "So, can I know what I'm doing here?"

"Hm?" Aang mumbled through another mouthful of dinner.

"Why the meeting?" she questioned seriously. She crossed her arms and looked away from him. "I mean, I don't really care or anything but…"

Aang really didn't have an answer to that if he was being honest with himself. It was a rather rash and out of character move for him now that he thought about, and his rambling thoughts about the matter weren't very helpful now that he thought about it. He wasn't sure what he wanted and wasn't sure what he wanted to come out of this meeting of his that had no structure whatsoever. He shrugged and answered, "I just wanted to meet up with you again," he answered simply, hoping that an honest yet vague response would be enough to placate her. "We got interrupted before, and things felt weird."

"I mean, they were already weird before," she muttered. She reached out and nudged Aang to the right when she saw he was about to run into a woman carrying a basket filled with food. He stumbled slightly, smiled at her, and turned right around to walk next to her. She shook her head and grinned. "Can't exactly call those circumstances ideal, can you?"

Aang shivered in his coat and pulled the collar up around his neck. "No, I guess not," he chuckled. "But still. It's the principle of the matter. Better out here than in there, am I right?" he asked with a knowing smile, referring to the fact that he knew exactly how much she hated staying at home.

She tapped her chin for a moment and looked at him from the side. "I'll let you know by the end of today."

He smiled at the joke, but immediately sobered up when he realized that what he said didn't quite hit the nail on the head. Aang reached across and grabbed Toph's arm, his fingers closing snugly over the sleeve of her coat. She turned her attention to him suddenly and stared at him strangely, her green eyes sharpening with worry and confusion. Their walk slowed down slightly as Aang held her gaze.

"I mean it," he repeated carefully. "This isn't just me thanking you, I…" Aang stopped and breathed out, collecting his thoughts and his nerve. "I just thought we could stop skirting around each other and just…you know…"

"Act normal?" Toph finished for him.

"I guess that's one way to put it," Aang assented. He figured that overthinking it and talking about it too much would make this whole outing seem rather uncomfortable. He was happy enough with the fact that ever since the two of them had a heart to heart in the middle of Katara's living room, all the bad blood and previous annoyance that their relationship—if you could even call it that—was built upon melted away into something a little more substantial. He figured that he could at least take advantage of it as opposed to forgetting that any of it ever happened.

The noble nodded and dodged a little boy running off with a handful of apples in the opposite direction. She started wringing her hands in the sleeves of her coat and swinging them back and forth. "I suppose I could handle that. If I really think about it, I've met worse people," she smirked.

He rolled his eyes. "Gee, thanks."

They kept walking in amicable silence while Aang started buttoning the collar to his coat closed and adjusting the clasps. He snuggled into his coat a little bit, and he turned to see Toph grin at him. "So do you like the coats? I was afraid they weren't going to fit right or something."

Aang tugged on the shoulder of her coat and gently tucked her head down. They walked underneath a large dresser that two men were carrying across the street and turned another corner to a quieter street.

He looked at her with bright eyes. "They're brilliant, Toph. Don't even worry about it. I told you all this last time."

Toph held the stare for a moment and then looked away from him sharply, keeping her head down and moving her lips really quickly, like she was berating herself. For some reason, his chest started aching at the memory of "last time" and a slight light headed feeling started to cloud up his head like cotton, and he could have sworn her cheeks were growing pink. Though to be honest, he couldn't tell if it was because she was embarrassed or because it was cold outside. He was willing to bank on the first one seeing as how the two of them suddenly acting so friendly was surreal if nothing else.

He bit the inside of his cheek and tried to think of something else to say.

"So…" he started awkwardly. "When do you have to be back home?" he wondered aloud to her. "I could walk you back later once you're tired or something. I don't want your parents worried if they decide to check on you."

Toph scoffed at the comment and immediately snapped out of her momentary slip up. "Oh, trust me. Those two probably won't notice I'm gone until well into the afternoon tomorrow. I haven't figured out if that's a good or a bad thing yet," she muttered bitterly, "but my alibi was pretty good, I think."

Aang started on another roll of bread. "Whatcha tell 'em," he spoke through a mouthful. He squinted his eyes and saw that they were finally approaching the square. It looked like the lanterns hanging across the buildings and around the fountain were just lit, and people were starting to litter the quad.

"Oh," Toph looked up in wonder. "I told some really elaborate sob story about how I was behind in my tutoring assignments and I needed to be alone for the rest of the night. I'm actually kind of shocked they bought it," she chuckled to herself. "It was kinda corny."

Aang laughed and rolled her eyes at her as they stepped into the bath of lights. He spotted an empty bench to the left and quickly slipped past the couples that were already eyeing it. He jumped on top of the seat and motioned for Toph to come and join him. Toph grinned at him and hopped up on the bench along with him. Aang leaned back against the wall of a building and stood standing on top of the bench. Toph laughed and followed suit. A few passing civilians gave the pair curious looks, but left the two alone.

"I hate sitting on these stone benches, don't you?" Aang asked her, splitting a piece of his bread and offering it to her.

Toph shook her had and took the offered food. "Whatever you say, Twinkle Toes."

The boy choked on his bread and turned to her sharply. "Twinkle Toes? Is that a nickname or something?"

"Mmhm," Toph mumbled through a mouthful of bread. "Get used to it. I give everyone I know nicknames."

"Hm…okay," Aang accepted, still trying to puzzle out the strange name and how she could have possible connected it to him. "What does it even mean?"

Toph snorted with laughter. "My nickname, my reasons. Figure it out for yourself, or don't ask."

Aang shook his head and decided to drop the subject. He shrugged and brushed the remaining crumbs off his hands. It wasn't exactly a _bad_ nickname, he supposed. It sounded sort of wimpy, and he hoped that this wasn't the origin for such a name, but for some reason he didn't really seem to care too much. If she hadn't given him one until now—something that she apparently gives to _everyone_—that must have meant some type of progress was made between them, even though he didn't really know what to make of it. Just this simple little banter between the two of them brought a pleasant smile to his face. His chest filled with the knowledge and decided not to make things more complicated than they needed to be.

"You mentioned assignments?" Aang questioned Toph, looking over the heads of the people bustling around in front of them. "That must be fun."

Toph immediately rolled her eyes at the mention of the work 'assignments' and hung her head. "It's torture," moaned Toph. "The arithmetic isn't all that bad—tedious, but not that bad. I'm good with numbers. But all the family biographies, philosophers, poets, and theorists get to be a bit much. Plus there's all the writing you have to do…" Her spirits seemed to be dulled a tad just from the mention of it all, and Aang winced for bringing the topic up in the first place.

He chewed on the inside of his cheek and decided to skirt around the subject. "Philosophy isn't too bad. It's just a bunch of old men ranting about the world and the people around them by writing riddles. If you read it the right way, they can be kind of funny."

"I just hate being forced to read something," Toph explained. "If I went out and did something for myself as opposed to having it thrust upon me, I feel like there'd be more relevance in that. I mean, what does essay writing prove?" she asked.

Aang smiled and held a hand out. "See? Philosophy! You just did it without realizing it."

"You make it sound so simple," Toph grumbled, ripping off her share of food and nibbling on them distractedly.

Aang tilted his head and hazarded a question that had been bugging him for a while. "Why do you like reading so much?"

"Hm?" she mumbled.

The boy shrugged and pulled and the sleeve of his coat. "I dunno. Blame my horrible stereotypes, but I never thought that was something you would occupy your time with…" he finished nervously.

Toph smirked. "You're not that far off from the truth actually," she admitted. "The most reading any of the people my age do are what the tutors assign, and that certainly doesn't include any of the fiction I like to pile on. I guess it's just not interesting enough when you can get so many expensive things to fool around with at the snap of a finger."

Aang half wondered what such amusements consisted of but decided to let it alone. "So what's your excuse?"

He watched her bite her lip and lean her head back on the wall so that she was staring up at the sky. She was hesitating, probably debating whether it was worth confiding such information to him, almost as if she was entrusting him with a family heirloom that could easily fall to the ground and shatter to pieces if it wasn't handled properly. She shook off the thoughts and faced him properly. "Overactive imagination, I guess." She laughed lightly to herself. "Whenever the maids read me bedtime stories, I'd always take them too seriously. You know, running into mom's closet to hide from monsters, wearing her bracelets like they were armor, things like that."

For some reason, that image seemed to appropriate and so easy to envision, that Aang couldn't help but grin at how endearing it sounded.

"When I was old enough I started reading the stories myself, and the habit stuck," she continued to explain. "Granted your tastes refine over time and fairytales don't cut it anymore, but either way."

Aang's thoughts turned briefly to the titles he had glanced at when he had snuck into the back of the shop and he nodded in understanding. "I get that. I used to have my head in the clouds with that stuff when I was little too. I think it took me longer to get out of it though."

Toph poked him in the side. "I dunno. I think you still have a hero complex," she teased.

"What are you talking about now?" he questioned with a small frown on his face.

The girl laughed in response. "What? You don't think gallantly hopping off a building and defending the honor of a poor defenseless damsel is just a tad storybook?" she asked.

"Fine, next time I'll let you wriggle out of a situation like that. Then we'll see how much you appreciate my 'hero complex,'" he muttered.

Toph nudged his shoulder to let him know that she was kidding. She pushed herself off the wall and rolled her shoulders back to get rid of the ache from leaning against the stones. "The poetry isn't too bad, I guess," she said, returning the conversation back to Aang's previous question. "My tutor won't let me read my favorites though."

Aang's ears perked at the mention of poetry. "Interesting. Who do you like?"

Toph stared out at the fountain in front of them as a couple of children began leaning over the edge to splash each other with the water spraying out. "Macmu-Ling is my favorite. Her sonnets are beautiful, but her haikus are just exceptional. I don't have many books on her though." Toph popped the last piece of bread into her mouth and shrugged noncommittally. "Whatever, though. There are worse things to be upset about."

He never expected such a brash girl to be so interested and fascinated with literature, but that might have just been an unfair assumption on his part. Still, no matter how hard she tried to look unaffected by it, it didn't mask the fact that she snuck out daily to pick up supplemental hand-me-down books to satiate her desire to do something she was actually interested in. If anything, that seemed to be all that the girl ever did with her time—going out to find something interesting.

Aang tried to think back to the piles and piles of old tomes he had collected over the years either from his father, through less than moral means, or through lucky finds. Be it out of sentimentality or collector's enthusiasm, he hated the idea of ever lending his books out. Not that he really had anyone to lend them out to in the first place. He was the brunt of many jokes from his best friend regarding the fact that he was probably the only homeless person living around in Gaoling that was actually intelligent and read up on books for the sake of culture. Either way, he supposed he could grin and bear it for a good cause. Besides, this was probably the only time his seemingly silly little hobby could actually prove useful.

"So that's it?" Aang asked. "'Whatever'?"

Toph crossed her arms and frowned. "Well, what am I supposed to do? Cry about it?"

Aang sighed with a smile. _So defensive_. He pushed himself off the wall and jumped to the ground. He held out his hand to her and jerked his head to one of the streets leading back the way they came. "Come on, then."

Toph stared at him strangely. "What? I thought we were hanging out here."

He sighed impatiently and waved her down. "I'm not going to kidnap you. I just want to show you something, okay?"

Her nose wrinkled and she had a scowl on her face, but she relented anyway. She ignored the hand he held out to help her down and instead jumped off the bench herself and marched on ahead of him. Aang rolled his eyes and ran ahead of her, leading her back down the street they had just come down.

Doors were starting to be left open to start letting in the customers and night goers that would be enjoying themselves for the rest of the night, so the streets were quickly starting to clear as throngs of people began filtering out of the streets and making it easier for the two teenagers to quickly make their way out of the busy center of the city and back towards the more residential areas where families were beginning to light candles in their windows and settle in for the night.

"We're leaving the town, are you sure we're going the right way?" Toph called in front of her as Aang slipped through a narrow alley in between two houses.

"You're asking me of all people if I'm sure where we're going?" Aang asked incredulously. "Isn't that my line?"

Toph marched next to him and placed a solidly landed punch on his shoulder. Aang winced and grabbed his shoulder and gritted his teeth at the pain. "Shut up. I was just asking."

"Damn, you have bony hands," Aang muttered. That felt less like a punch and more like being pelted with a rock. She must have taken the comment as an insult because she lifted her fist as if she made to hit him again. He cringed away from her and quickly ran slightly ahead of her before she took anything else the wrong way.

"Just enjoy the walk, huh?" Aang called back to her, missing the frown that she sent him. "I promise, I'm not pulling your leg."

The buildings began getting smaller and slightly more run down and Aang knew that they were getting close to his home. It was still early so he didn't need to worry about any vagrants hanging out in the streets in front of the buildings and giving the two of them a hard time. He was always careful to make sure he wasn't coming and going at odd hours of the day so that no one would bug him about the expensive looking coat he had on his back. It would only be made worse if he was caught walking around with Toph in tow dressed just as nicely as he was. Either way, he waited for Toph to catch up with him and made sure they were walking shoulder to shoulder just in case.

After a few minutes, he started to get the sense that Toph was a little on edge over the neighborhood they had entered. Aang had never thought about it before, but he supposed that to anyone else, it would seem like a sketchy and all around dangerous neighborhood to live in. Most people left you alone and there was no need to be frightened, but that was only if you lived around here and were on the same page as all the other thieves and squatters that lived here. Aang was certainly used to it. Toph seemed to be taking it extremely well, not bothering to cling to his arm or hide behind him, but he could tell she was on guard with the way she kept looking down every dark street they passed by.

A familiar lopsided building came into view and Aang was looking forward to finally getting out of the wind at the very least. He motioned Toph forward as he walked towards the back door and kneeled down in front of it.

"Where are we?" Toph whispered, looking over her shoulder at the sound of a stray cat meowing loudly behind them.

Aang ignored her for the moment as he shoved his shoulder roughly into the middle of one of the planks on the door. The old hinges tended to stick when it got too cold and Aang often had to use a little bit of brute strength to get the door open. With a few more rough shoves, the hinges began to creak back to life, and the door finally swung open and banged on the back wall at an angle the way it normally did.

"Woah," Toph breathed when she looked inside. Aang smiled and let her take in the sight of the clutter while he slipped past her and started rummaging around in a few of the boxes that he kept near the door.

Toph moved inside and started running her fingers over some of the books that were piled high along the walls. "Is this where you live?"

Aang poked his head out of a box and turned towards Toph. "What? Oh, um. Yeah, I guess. Home sweet home, if you can call it that." He pulled out a flint and steel that Jet had pilfered for him a few days ago. Aang pointed behind Toph. "Hey, there's a fireplace behind you. I changed the tinder in there this morning, but can you make sure it's not wet?"

Toph furrowed her brows, but didn't say anything as she went and checked up on the fireplace. Aang only really used it when he really needed it. Most of the time he stood out most of the day and only came home to either drop things off or go to sleep. When it was really cold, blocking the windows, staying inside, and layering up with everything that he owned was usually enough. He was used to the frigid temperatures by now. It was only necessary when the windows frosted over or when he was sick and needed the warmth to bring him back to sorts. He didn't like the work it required to keep it going, plus it dirtied up the floor with soot and ash, and that was always annoying to clean.

However, he doubted that Toph would appreciate staying here if it was so cold, so he figured he could at least keep it lit for the night to give her some relief from the cold.

"I think you're fine," Toph called back. "It seems dry to me."

Aang thanked her over his shoulder and started striking the flint and bit of steel together to make sure that it was still making sparks. He leaned over into the small fireplace and started striking the two pieces together as small sparks started flying out of his hand. He stood there for a few minutes trying to get one of the sparks to catch fire until finally a small flame started up in the fireplace. He sighed—usually that took a lot longer—and pulled out a piece of metal roofing that he kept nearby and used as a pseudo fire poker so he could kindle the fire. Toph sat back on one of the boxes and watched him work until he had a decent sized fire going that lit up the room and started warming up the house.

"I have candles in the box you're sitting on," Aang pointed underneath her, and Toph nodded and started shifting through the quilts and blankets that were inside. She came across a set of about twelve candles wrapped up in a thin cloth and handed them to Aang one by one.

He put each one into the fire and started placing them around the room on top of various bits of wood that caught the melted wax of the candles.

"You have a pretty solid setup here," Toph commented. She kept several candles and was helping Aang scatter them around the room as she spoke.

Aang reached up onto a shelf and placed three more candles. "It took a while to make it livable, but I guess it's alright."

"It's great," Toph smiled, her green eyes almost glowing in the yellow light of the candles.

Nestled on top of a particularly long crate filled with books that belonged to his father was a large rug that he had gotten as a gift from another homeless boy who used to live near Aang. Aang had brought the boy over food and water while he was sick for three weeks, and the rug was the thank you. At first Aang wasn't sure exactly what to do with it, but on the days where he felt like lounging around near the fire, it made a nice comfortable seat that worked a lot better than sitting on the cold floor.

He started to roll the rug out in front of the fire and began to unbutton his coat. "Sorry I can't make it any warmer."

Toph shook her head and patted him on the head. "Don't worry about it. I'm pretty sure I can handle a little bit of nippy weather. But if you don't mind my asking, why are we here?"

"Oh!" Aang gasped, and crawled over to the opposite corner of the room where neat rows of books were piled up. Aang brushed his fingers over the spines and was muttering the titles to himself. Toph watched him pick up a few books and place them next to him before he kept crawling along the floor on his knees and sifting through the piles some more.

The noble girl was gaping at the sight. "You have so many books…"

Aang chuckled and nodded. "Yeah. I like to read, and my father liked to read too. Most of these are his that he passed down to me, but a lot of them I've collected over the years by myself. I think I've just about read all of them by now."

Toph smiled at the sight of Aang's enthusiasm as he spoke of what looked to be one of his few joys living the way he did. She didn't think she'd ever seen him so excited over something in a while. Toph opened up her own coat, but decided to leave the hood of her cloak on while she crossed her legs on the carpet and waited for Aang to finish. After a few more minutes of rustling through the old books, Aang walked back over to the rug and sat next to Toph with an armful of about twelve books.

"Alright," Aang grunted as he dropped himself down on the rug and sat opposite Toph. He took off the first five books and placed them in between the two of them. "Here are all the official anthologies of poetry that Macmu-Ling has ever published. Her haiku edition is this green one on the bottom," Aang told her, pointing to the faded green spine of one of the books. He took two more books off of the main pile and placed them next to the five anthologies. "These two are collections of various poets, but they both have Macmu-Ling poetry in them. I thought that maybe you might find some other poets in there you liked."

He looked about ready to show her the other five books he had behind him, but Toph grabbed his hand and stopped him before he could continue on. "Woah, woah, wait a minute. Where did you…how did you get all this?"

"I told you, my father loved to read," Aang explained simply. "It was funny that you said Macmu-Ling was your favorite because my father loved her too. He always read her poetry out to me and would go crazy trying to find all of her poems. I figured you'd want to look through them."

Toph's eyes widened as she picked up one of the anthologies and started sifting through the pages. They weren't as well kept as the brand new books that she had in her own room, or even the borrowed books that Yin would give her. These were definitely weathered and very old. Some of the spines were bent, the titles were a little faded, and the pages were already yellowing. But, it was clear that the books were well looked after and that Aang treated each of them with care. None of them were falling apart or looked like they had been abused, and she smiled to herself when she came across a page that had been folded over, probably so that Aang could mark his place where he had left off.

Immediately, her eyes started to rove over all of the poems that she had never even read before and wondered why on Earth she had waited so long to go out and look for them. She lifted her eyes from the pages for a moment as she looked at the other five books Aang had brought over. "What are those?"

Aang lifted his head as he stopped skimming one of the books she had been referring to. "Oh, these? They're just some novels that I wanted to look through again. I used to read them all the time a couple of years ago, but for some reason I can never find the time to sit down long enough and give them another read."

"Is that one any good?" Toph questioned, gesturing to the book that he was currently skimming.

Aang peeked at the front cover and he automatically broke into a wide grin. "Impeccable, actually," Aang commented. "The story itself is beautiful, but I don't think any other author could do it justice. The writing is just absolutely amazing. The descriptions and the metaphors just make the book seem so artistic, and it all flows so well into the plot. I really do think he was meant to be a poet, but the way it's built into the story is just so charming."

Toph held her hand out for the book and looked at the front for the name of the story. "Speaking of stereotypes from before, I never would have thought a market thief would have a library at his house. Don't get me wrong, but I didn't see this coming."

Aang's cheeks heated up a little from embarrassment. "Most don't. I'm sort of the brunt of a lot of jokes around here because I practically kill myself if I see a book on sale. I guess no one really expects someone like me to want to learn a little, you know?"

"I didn't mean it like that," Toph frowned. "I just didn't think a hobby like that could be so extensive. I don't think _I_ have this many books in my own room."

Aang somehow found that hard to believe but decided not to say anything. Toph seemed perfectly happy sitting here on the floor with her coat draped around her shoulders reading old poetry books that he's had here for years. He smiled at the fact that she really didn't seem to mind the setup and was happily settling herself in the home of a squatter. It was like she had been waiting for the opportunity to be something different for so long, she embraced it as it came to her.

One of the books in his lap was a leather bound book that he remembered his father always carrying around in his cloak wherever the two of them went. Aang fiddled with the strap on the book, undoing and redoing it out of a habit that he developed every time harsh memories started to rear their ugly heads. He hadn't realized he had grabbed it in the pile of novels that he enjoyed, but he laughed mirthlessly to himself when he realized that it was terribly ironic that he had grabbed it anyway. If he looked carefully, he could still see the warped pages that were forever slightly bent due to the many bookmarks that his father used to always place inside this book.

_An extensive hobby, huh?,_ he thought to himself. He had never thought about it that way, but all things considered, he could see how he used it as a cover up. Sokka's obsession with looking for a busy and menial job that would attract all his concentration, Katara's obsession with constantly helping people with all of the time she could spare, and him surrounded by a labyrinth of books in his own home.

"It's distracting," Aang admitted quietly which cause Toph to look up from her reading and stare at him carefully. "They're really wonderful little distractions when you start thinking about things you'd rather not think about. It doesn't make them go away, but it helps."

Her eyes darted back to the wall piled high with all of the reading he had read over and over again and smiled sadly at his statement. "We all do that, though," she explained quietly. "It's not a bad thing. We're only resilient to a certain extent, and sometimes you need a buffer." She huffed through her nose and flipped through another page of poetry. "Hell I do it everyday."

"You mean running away?" he said automatically without thinking of whether he should even bring attention to it.

She nodded stiffly. "Yeah. Among other things. I guess if you can't handle something, you try to ignore it, right?"

Aang wasn't trying to look at her anymore. "By running away from it…"

"Yeah."

He didn't know what caused it, but snake started curling and jumping around in his stomach and he immediately felt a strange and overwhelming warmth come over him that started to make his hands itch to reach across and just touch her—her hair, her sleeve, her cheek, anything. Toph Bei Fong was just full of surprises, and the longer he spent time with her, the more he realized that she actually understood more than he gave her credit for. There was just something so comforting about the fact that maybe he was hiding from something or trying to forget about it—he swore he felt his scar ache—but that she was as well. It was something she was always careful to skirt around, but he did the same with everyone else who pried into his life too much.

It was a little thing. But it was nice to know that Toph wasn't on a pedestal that he couldn't reach. He happened a look up at her and saw her settling against a crate with the book propped up on her knees. She was frowning slightly—probably from bringing up traces of thoughts she didn't want to revisit—but the fire did a good job of lighting up her eyes and revealing that she was drinking in everything she was reading, and was enjoying herself in that way at least. Sitting on the floor in front of a dying fire in casual clothes with her hair piled sloppily on top of her head—she almost looked normal. Sometimes he thought back to that day in the fall when she was sitting on her palanquin, and wondered if this was indeed the same person.

"Sorry," he muttered quietly. "Didn't mean to be all depressing."

She turned another page and didn't waste a breath. "Don't worry, Twinkle Toes. Let me borrow these books and I'll let it slide." She smirked and looked over the top of the book.

Aang smiled at her, and swore that the urge to hold her and kiss her was never as strong as it was in that moment. "No problem."

**OOO**

**A/N:** Good Lord, I can't apologize enough for the hiatus, mainly because I didn't tell you all. But let's just say that my senior year was a lot more hectic than I thought it was going to be, and dealing with financial aid applications, school applications, finishing my senior project, trying to pass the last of my exams, and trying to get our goddamn school yearbook published just about had me tied up in ways I couldn't get out of. The good news is that I got a lot of acceptance letters (YAY!) so I'm officially covered in terms of school for the next few years. I'm very excited.

I'll be updating a lot more regularly now since I've written four chapters in advance for Entranced at this point since I felt really bad about falling behind due to work this year. That means I'll probably be giving you a chapter every **Wednesday** from here on out. I've had a very long time to plan out the story during my absence and outline it in between then and now I'm confident that I can give you updates that aren't every six months.

Thanks for dealing with me and my nonsense. I hope I can make it up to you all soon. orz


	13. Unfair

**OOO**

**Chapter 13**

**Unfair**

**OOO**

Aang didn't realize that he fell asleep on the floor until the ache in his back immediately woke him up, stinging into his bones and pulling a pained groan from the back of his dry throat. His head was being cushioned by an old, too-small sweater that he had pulled out from one of the crates around him. Unfortunately, the rug underneath him did little as far as his back was concerned. The boy rubbed at his eyes and started to blink through the dark room and try to gain his bearings.

It was still night time, but the roaring fire that had been flickering in the fireplace was nothing more than a couple of glowing embers at the bottom of the grate, and all of the candles were burnt out and remained as pools of wax all around the room. It was definitely past midnight. He felt like he had been asleep for some hours, and the fire must have been going for a while to go out.

He stretched his limbs out to work out the knots that were no doubt formed due to where he decided to curl up for most of the night. He had only meant to make a headrest for himself so that he could lean back and be more comfortable, but he must have dozed off. The chill was already settling into the room and he could start to feel a soreness develop in his throat that only ever came about when he was outside for too long. Aang was so used to it he barely registered the pain, but when he started to stretch out the knots that had formed in his muscles, his foot brushed against a leg that wasn't his, and his heart started hammering.

Toph was sitting across from him and he remembered her having the same idea as him when it came to grabbing old clothes to second off as pillows. However, he hadn't noticed the quilt that was draped over the two of them until now. He didn't remember pulling one out and wondered if Toph had gotten cold in the middle of the night and covered herself with it. She was wrapped up snuggly with the edges tucked underneath her so that the cold wouldn't get in. Her arm was hanging out of her little cocoon and her finger was still marking her place on the book she had fell asleep reading. Aang was already tempted to smile at the sight, but he didn't want to ignore the fact that she was shivering underneath all the fabric.

The boy crawled over—careful not to accidently dig an elbow or a knee into her—and started to peel back the quilt where it was bunched up underneath Toph's chin. He brushed the backs of his fingers against her cheek—he wondered how she would react to such a thing if she were awake—and gently tapped a finger against her temple.

Toph's eyes fluttered for a few seconds and she groaned at the contact. She flipped around under the quilt and buried her face in her makeshift pillow, lying on her stomach and moaning in frustration. Aang rolled his eyes and nudged a little harder.

"Hey, come on, you," he insisted, poking her in the ribs. "You shouldn't stay sleeping here."

Toph shook her head and covered the back of her head with her arm. "Mmm. Tired."

Aang sighed. "The fire's out. I doubt you'd want to spend the night here."

The girl shuffled more in the blankets and finally flipped over on her side, opening one eye to stare at him blearily. "You sleep here every day. What's the difference?"

The boy frowned. "That's not funny."

"I wasn't trying to be," she shrugged. "I just don't want to move."

_Or you just don't want to go home_, Aang thought to himself, but decided that mentioning that probably wouldn't be a wise decision. He pushed her a little bit rougher. "Come on, Toph. Up."

"Five minutes Twinkle Toes, I promise," Toph breathed out.

Aang pursed his lips but decided to let her do what she wanted. He had cleaning up to do anyway and maybe the noise would get her up. She shouldn't stay here. She wasn't used to sleeping in conditions that were this cold and he didn't want to be the reason she got sick because of it.

"It's the middle of the night," Aang reminded her. "You shouldn't stay here any longer than you need to."

Toph huffed in her sheets. "Oh, kicking me out, are you?"

"You're a nut," Aang teased her. Luckily, that caused her to lift her head from the pillow and peek over the quilt she was wrapped up in. Her teeth started chattering when she lifted out of the fabric. "You have a warm bed to go home to and you want to stay in this tundra? Unbelievable."

He heard her grumbling under her breath from behind him as he went around the room with a tiny pocketknife and started scraping the dried candle wax from all the surfaces around the room. He would snuff out the fireplace when he got back home. Her boots thumped against the wooden floor as she rolled off the rug and finally got onto her feet and Aang smiled. He felt a little bad that he had to guilt trip her to roll out of his house so that she could finally get home. If he was being at least halfway honest with himself, it would be nice to keep her here just a little but longer if only to spend some amicable time together. He never thought he would see the day.

Toph was pulling on her coat again and quickly buttoning up the snaps. "Damn, it's _freezing _in here!"

Aang dumped the wax in his pocket to throw out when he took Toph outside. "This is actually a vast improvement from last week."

She didn't look like she believed him. "Are you serious?"

He was so used to the conditions, he probably sounded too nonchalant when he said, "Yeah, but it's fine. I always just go to Katara if I get really sick or something. Besides, it should be warming up in about a month and I'll be sweating to death instead."

Toph didn't look amused by his explanation and she looked almost angry when she was adjusting her gloves and her hood, staring around the house with her lip in between her teeth. Aang reached over to tap her on the shoulder and she looked up at him with a look that he was very much familiar with. He didn't want to say that he disliked it or that it annoyed him, but it was definitely a look he got from a lot of people who saw him walking around with tattered clothing, a handful of food, and nothing else to call his own. She felt sorry for him.

He snuffed out the look before she had the time to let it grow into full-blown pity. "Hey, don't do that. You don't need to worry about me, alright? I promise. Just one of those thorns in your side you have to grin and bear." He smirked at her and tipped her chin up. "Don't cry on me."

She scowled and pushed him away from her. "Shut up! I was just worried about you, idiot."

"Don't be," Aang insisted, adjusting his own coat. "Katara dotes on me enough. Can you imagine if you start up too?"

The girl didn't look convinced, but decided not to say anything in response. She kneeled down and started piling all the books she had been flipping through the night to take home with her. Toph looked up and held out her hand. "Do you have a belt or a strap or something?"

Aang looked up in thought and turned around to the back wall that had a few hooks hammered into the wall with old leather belts that he had collected over the years. He yanked an old one that was too small for his waist anymore and started pulling it out of the buckle.

As he started lining up the books for her and tying them up, he smiled and stared up at her. "Takes you back, doesn't it?"

Toph snorted and rolled her eyes at the memory. "I must have been a pleasant end to your day."

His brain willed him not to say anything romantically corny—in jest or not—in response to that, and he obligingly held his tongue and decided to leave it alone. "No comment."

She glared at him and pushed him over to grab the books herself. "You're a riot. Really though. Killing me."

Aang smirked and wagged his eyebrows and jutted his chin towards the door. "Come on. The quicker we leave the better."

The two of them messed up by falling asleep. It was pitch black outside and he knew that there were a few vagrants that lived nearby that were none too kind to common folk walking around this part of the town at this time. Aang had a fifty-fifty chance of being mistaken for a rich noble or of someone actually recognizing him and deciding to leave him alone. Unfortunately, that chance wasn't looking so good with Toph walking next to him. He had to remember that if they ever decided to meet up together again, to tell Toph about the fact that she needed to do a better job of dressing down. Her clothes were simple but so expensive looking. If she decided to walk through here by herself, he was sure that she would be messed with.

Aang was shoving the door back into place and started looking down the streets that were stretching ahead of them. It was ridiculously hard to see since there were hardly any lanterns lit on this side of the town. No one was technically supposed to be living here and the city never saw the need to light up the streets for squatters. In the distance, he saw a few fires lit up in alleys, probably by people who were unlucky enough to have to sleep outside for the night and needed a little bit of extra warmth to keep them alive through the night.

Toph must have noticed this and leaned over to Aang's ear while he was working on properly closing the door. "Do people usually light fires outside? I thought they just squatted in buildings."

A final rough shove let the hinges give and allowed the door to finally slip crookedly into the frame. Aang brushed off his hands and kneaded the creases he left in his hands. "A lot of these buildings are unlivable. The ones that are have been taken for a while. Most people wrap up in front of a fire and hope for the best." It took Aang a _very_ long time to have the set up that he currently had in this house. A lot of sacrifices were made along the way and they thankfully paid off. But the harsh reality was that some people weren't that lucky.

After a brief lapse of silence, Toph asked, "Did you ever have to do that?"

Aang pulled his hood and reached behind Toph's head to pull up her hood as well. He shrugged in response and nodded. "For a bit yeah. But I was lucky. I had other people looking out for me and I wasn't out here on my own. Most people aren't that fortunate." He walked to her left side and wrapped an arm around her shoulder, pressing her close to his side. "Stop talking about depressing stuff anyway. Let's just go."

"Why are you hanging onto me?" she questioned with a strange glance being focused on his hand that was gripping her shoulder.

"I'm keeping you close," he muttered into her ear as they started walking. He kept to the right side of the street—the buildings were closer together on this side leaving less hiding spaces for other people—and used the shadows cast by the buildings to keep them as hidden as he could. "Sorry to say, you still stick out like a sore thumb. I mean, come on. Embroidered pants? You're not even trying."

Toph looked offended. "Well sorry for not being up to date on the fashion statements of your circle of friends."

Aang glared at her and shushed her. "Calm down, I was kidding," he amended. "Just keep your hood up and your voice down. We don't want to run into anyone."

"Why, what'll happen?" she asked out of curiosity, and strangely not out of fear. "Think someone will bother us?"

Aang shook his head. "These coats—while very warm—are not things to be flaunting this late at night. This is the hour where people are achingly hungry and hopelessly cold," Aang explained, sending a wary look down a street that had a fire roaring being kindled by two men that looked a lot bigger than him. He pushed her along and quickened his step. "People get desperate. I can't carry a weapon to defend ourselves either unless I want to provoke someone even more."

Her mouth formed an 'o' shape and she immediately darted her eyes to the left when she heard a crash echo through the night. It was too dark to see what was the cause of the noise, but Toph instinctively reached a hand around Aang's waist and grabbed his coat on the other side. Her features hardened and she looked very defensive and on alert. Shame on Aang to ever think that Toph was scared or nervous—it just wasn't in her personality from what he could tell—but she was definitely a little but more on edge than she was earlier in the night. If he ever wanted to thrust her into a rather harsh reality check, this was probably the best way he could have ever done it.

Sadly enough, Aang didn't have a lot of friends for reasons like this—people were very jealous. Aang lucked out that he and Jet were friends since they were little and were decent enough human beings to look out for each other, something that not every one was willing to be no matter what type of neighborhood you lived in. It was why Aang always carried around his bo staff late at night when he was by himself in case something happened. He was taking a huge gamble not taking it with him tonight, but normally he was along and could afford to adopt the intimidating appearance to deter people away from him. That wasn't a very good idea having someone like Toph with him. They wouldn't recognize her by name, but it wasn't hard to tell that she wasn't from here.

"Is it always like this?" Toph whispered into his ear as they turned a corner. Her breathe puffed against his ear and made him shiver slightly at the sensation.

Aang shrugged his shoulders and leaned his face in close. "Sort of. But there have been a lot more people without places to live recently. Not sure why. I don't really keep track of the economy in this city. Not my department." Aang was never really good at finance and numbers. His father liked to keep track of things like that for whatever reason—probably for intellectual stimulation—but Aang didn't see the point since it really didn't apply to him. His version of finance was a lot more black and white than everyone else's.

Toph turned her face closer to his and lowered her voice even more when they got _very_ close to a scruffy looking old man that was muttering rather loudly to himself. "Greedy people are moving in all the way on the other side of the city. Soaking up all the wealth I guess."

"Is that really true?" Aang whispered, suddenly interested. He hadn't really put too much thought into it, but sometimes crowds of really richly dressed people would pass by through the main part of the city at times like they were all existing in packs nowadays. They were always something like an endangered species when he was a little kit, or at least that's how he had remembered it.

"Gaoling's pretty posh if you look in the right places, and people like that," Toph explained lowly, keeping her eyes on Aang so that she wouldn't accidently make eye contact with someone and provoke them. Aang did the same, immediately realizing that she had the right idea. "We're overpopulated to begin with. Once you have an influx of rich people moving in, the city is quicker to cater to them first."

Aang scowled. "Typical."

She nodded in agreement. "More like sick. But I didn't know it was this bad. I mean…every two blocks…"

"I know," he interrupted. For some reason, he didn't like bringing attention to it. "But what can you do?"

It was Toph's turn to scowl at him and give him an incredulous look. "How can you think like that? People shouldn't be dying just because a bunch of stuck up families want a change of scenery."

"I agree," Aang explained. "But it's not like we can all march up to the higher ups and complain about it. Redistribution of wealth was never an effective social balm. If anything, it makes things worse. You live with what you've got. That's all."

Toph shook her and refused to agree with him. "You shouldn't be here," she said honestly, her eyes not leaving his for a second. He wondered how much of that had to do with the fact that she was avoiding eye contact with everyone they were passing.

"None of us should," Aang commented.

Toph stared at him critically, and he was reminded of that smoldering look she was giving him when she was standing up in the middle of Katara's living room, insisting that she only meant to help and make sure that he didn't freeze to death outside without a proper coat. Philanthropy was never something he would have pegged as a part of Toph's hobbies, but he could tell that she was quickly upsetting herself over it more than he ever expected her too. That tended to happen when you walked in a world that was so unlike the one you're used to. He always joked around to Jet that nobles needed a reality check—something like living in a shack for the night to see how they felt and how much of a privileged life they lived. Aang always treated statements like that as a joke. But Toph had done just that tonight and was starting to put ugly pieces together. They were so alike, and yet so totally different.

Her hand tightened on his waist. He wasn't sure why, but Aang bent his head down so that his temple was resting against the top of her head. It gave him the excuse to hold him closer to keep her safer, but he suspected Toph didn't think that was the reason behind the action judging by her smile and the way she stared up at him. She didn't do anything to shake him off and decided to let him be.

"Don't you wish that you could get out of here somehow?" Toph asked him honestly. "Isn't there something you want to do?"

Aang furrowed his brows and stared at her strangely. "Do? What do you mean?"

"You know, go off and see something besides the reject end of this city," she said. "Doesn't being stuck here get to you at all?"

Aang never saw his situation as something he was "stuck" in. More like, he got born into a situation that he just needed to deal with. Granted there were so many ways that things could have gone better than they did, but Aang didn't have the time to contemplate the unfairness of it all and started dreaming of a better reality. There were more productive things he needed to do with his time. "I never really saw how I could ever do something like that,"Aang admitted. "I worry more about my next meal then the places I'd rather see. Plus it's not like I have very many options."

"But wouldn't you want to leave what you were born into and just…do something different?" Toph asked quietly.

Tough questions like this were never Aang's strong point. He didn't want to call it denial, but he definitely didn't waste his energy thinking about things like this. They discouraged him and affected his drive to deal with the cards he had been dealt. Plus, he always hated being hyped up for something that would probably never happen. This is exactly what it felt like.

"In an ideal world?" Aang questioned her, and she nodded in response, almost as if his answer would do more than just satiate her curiosity regarding his life.

Aang bit his lip and bowed his head. "I'm not very particular. But I guess it'd be nice to not have to be quite so criminal about things. I hate stealing. My friends don't mind it, and I guess in the moment I'm more concerned about myself, but afterwards it makes me feel like garbage. It's not a very honorable profession. You have to do what you have to do, but a lot of the times you find yourself doing things you don't particularly feel like doing."

Toph almost laughed at his final sentence. She pressed her cheek against his shoulder and let out a shaky sigh. "I know exactly what you mean."

Aang laughed mirthlessly. "Well, I don't."

"What do you mean?" she questioned.

"I mean that you always speak so vaguely and practically in riddles," Aang admitted to her, raising a brow at her when she averted her eyes down and finally broke eye contact with him. "Tell me straight up. What do you want to do? You clearly aren't happy where you are either."

"No, no," Toph disagreed quickly. "It's not that I'm unhappy. I'm not trying to sound ungrateful." Aang sympathized with her. It must not have been easy walking through a scene like this and then going back home to her lavish estate with more than she really needed. He never pegged her as the stuck up noble that he expected her to be and would have never accused her of being ungrateful, but he could tell that she was already being very careful not to give off that particular vibe to him.

She sighed out in relief when she saw lanterns strung up over the buildings ahead of them that started to light up the streets a lot better. They were finally moving into a slightly safer area. "My priorities are different than everyone else's," she told him, not bothering to let go of him or move from the position she was in even though it was no longer necessary considering the streets were now more brightly lit. Aang smiled at this realization and decided not to bring attention to it lest she get embarrassed and let him go. He secretly like holding her like this with her leaning against him and pressing into his side. It felt nice, and he was certainly a lot warmer than he would have been walking alone.

"How different?" he asked.

"There are things that I want to do that just don't make sense to my family or the "friends" my family insists I surround myself with," she said with a bit of contempt in her voice. "I've always wanted to leave this city. Not just on vacation to our stupid little resorts and summer houses. I mean, I want to go where I want to go and just live by the day. Travel, explore, learn things, see places, and meet new people. I just feel so isolated where I am now."

Aang frowned and stared down at her. "Well, why stay where you're not happy?" he asked her. "You're not like me. You can get up and leave and do what you want to do. Go to a bigger city than this one and just take in what you haven't seen yet. Grow a little."

The girl sadly shook her head and explained, "I have duties that are beyond just my personal interests. I can't just decide to leave because it suits me. Unfortunately, I affect the lives and futures of a lot of people. I'm sort of like the lynch pin holding a lot of events together depending on what I decide to do."

"And you're not willing to mess that up for everyone," he finished for her.

Toph nodded sadly and breathed out through her nose, her voice betraying her disappointment. "If there's one thing I can pride myself on, it's that I'm not selfish. Or at least I like to pretend that I'm not. My parents might be pulling me along by my strings, but I could never just completely cut myself away from them. No one could ever do that if you're parents think they mean well."

Aang didn't realize what he said until it left his lips, but that tended to happen when someone mentioned close relatives. "All they ever want to do is protect you. They sacrifice a lot just to do that and you should never take it for granted." Aang smiled bitterly at that thought and tried not to take it as personally as he knew he had the tendency of doing. "But sometimes it's to a fault. You need to realize when they reach that point. Once they start inhibiting you, something is wrong."

Toph didn't say anything, and Aang let her dwell in the silence. All those books he was reading through last night were starting to seep into his speech. His father always sat him down for talks like these and always drew inspiration from the authors he loved. Aang wondered if he was starting to sound more like him every day. Toph was certainly staying silent and soaking up the lesson similar to how Aang would stare at his father critically with sharp eyes trying to take in all the lessons he had ever preached to him.

There were very few people walking around this late at night, but there were the odd few couples walking hand in hand that must have stayed out extremely late and were only now just straggling back to their homes. A few males with girls tucked underneath their arms nodded at Aang, making him realize just how much the two of them resembled those late night couples, all wrapped around each other, walking closely and muttering quietly through the cover of their hoods. For some reason, Aang was feeling very bold and went with the assumption, nodding back and smiling at whoever noticed them. Even if nothing ever came of this besides wonderful company—which Aang honestly did not mind at all—he wanted to indulge slightly in what it would feel like to have Toph do this all the time. He wasn't sure when it would ever happen again, and he latched on to the opportunity to take advantage of it when he could.

Toph shocked him when she spoke up again. "I never really thought it possible to please everyone like that. You seem too optimistic."

He didn't try and deny such a claim. "I sort of have to be."

Aang was too tired to keep up a conversation and Toph seemed to think similarly. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw her swinging her books in her free arm and her eyes were closed while she kept walking with him. It was a very long walk back to the front gates of the estates where her house was located, and the two of them seemed extremely content to just continue the walk without any more introspective conversations. They seemed to be doing that a lot lately and Aang wondered why. He supposed they both just needed people to talk to. Jet was always a wonderful resource, but they never really saw eye to eye when it came to things such as morality and their futures. Toph seemed to be in a similar position. Maybe the two of them were finally venting what they needed to get out and were simply taking what they could get wherever they could.

He wasn't keeping track of time, but he supposed a considerable amount of time passed before the tall gates loomed into view. The houses beyond the gate were all dark at the late hour. Toph should have no problem sneaking inside so long as there were no guards patrolling around the houses or anything like that.

Aang lifted his shoulder and nudged Toph's cheek gently. "Hey, we're here."

The girl must have been dead tired. First falling asleep at his house, and now even dozing off as they were walking. She blinked at the gates and her eyes immediately turned to the left. She separated from him—much to Aang's disappointment—and started to run her fingers over the bars that lined the gate. She found the familiar gap in the gate and Aang smiled, wondering how long she had been keeping that a secret. He wondered what would happen if her parents ever found out about something so devious. Aang was strangely proud of her.

"Sorry for getting all preachy back there, by the way," Aang felt the need to apologize anyway. "I guess that's all I really know how to talk about."

"I don't mind," Toph assured him. "You can't find very many people who are willing to talk that candidly. Most of the time, I have to settle talking with myself."

Aang laughed and looked down at his feet, his hands shoved into his pockets and looking particularly uncomfortable. He hadn't walked a girl home in a while, and he was a bit rusty as to what he was supposed to be doing or saying.

Toph reached up and nudged his shoulder. "Are you clamming up on me or something? No need to get nervous or anything."

Aang glared at her. "I'm not _nervous_." That was a huge lie, but she didn't need to know that he knew that.

She seemed to have him all figured out though, because she simply smiled knowingly and decided to leave him believing what he wanted. They both knew it was getting late and that Toph really probably should start heading back into her house and settling in for the night. Aang had quite a walk ahead of him and was wondering whether he should just shave fifteen minute off of his walk and just crash at Jet's house for the night. It's not the first time he had ever done it. Walking and talking with this girl drained him in more ways than one, and he needed some sleep in order to help him think.

The boy started to turn and wave a hand over his shoulder. "Well, I guess I'll…see you later."

Toph was staring at Aang strangely and was making no effort to move back towards the gap in the gate to head up to her house. Aang turned back around and stared back, sizing her up and trying to figure out if she was trying to tell him something else.

He opened his mouth to speak and ask her what was wrong, but was shut up and very pleasantly surprised when he felt a pair of small hands rest themselves on his shoulders as Toph lifted herself up on the tips of her toes and left a very small, very soft, but very much real kiss on his cheek that lingered a lot longer than friendly cheek kisses tended to last.

Aang blinked and Toph was already getting read and was scowling, almost as if she were embarrassed and kicking herself for doing something so bold and so terribly romantic.

"Thanks for the books," she called over her shoulder as she dashed in the opposite direction, slipped through the gap in the gate, and immediately disappearing into the foliage that was growing in front of the gates. Aang's hand was lifted in a wave as he tried to say goodbye to her without trying to say anything to mess up the moment, but he found that he couldn't even move anyway, trying to quickly process whether that just really happened.

Jet would no doubt make fun of him for freezing at such a simple action, but Aang didn't really care. His cheek was already heating up, and the feeling of slightly chapped lips, moistened from licking them like an afterthought, were dominating his head and he was starting to feel a giddy emotion fill up his chest.

"See you later," he whispered to no one, Toph already too far away to hear him.

**OOO**

**A/N:** Sorry I'm a day late. Mom's been in the hospital for a couple of days, and I've been camping out there without my computer making sure she doesn't stress herself into a coma. I just got home at an ungodly hour and uploaded this before I go to bed.

If the whole "bonding over books" thing seems random to you, hang tight. They're actually important to the plot, which is going to start up full swing next chapter. I was thinking of adding it to this chapter, but then I realized the chapter would be far too long and this one was already just under 6,000, which I like to make my ballpark word count for each chapter (kinda doesn't really happen all the time but I try). So next week should be a lot more satisfying for those of you who are wondering where the hell I'm actually going with any of this because _yes_ I do have a plan.

Until next week!


	14. Rash

**A/N:** Back from an unexpected hiatus in which my entire world was flipped upside down and turned 180 degrees in the opposite direction. Very exhausting and traumatizing work. I don't recommend it. But at least I'm all figured out and back to writing again in time for my next semester of school. The good news is that I decided to apologize by updating every story I have and posting a new one. So if you're interested, check that stuff out too. But for now…onward.

**OOO**

**Chapter 14**

**Rash**

**OOO**

That night, Toph had some _serious_ reevaluating to do.

She had made a very staunch decision to never delve into matters having to do with love or romance ever, ever, _ever_ again for as long as she was alive. A pretty unrealistic goal, but no one was going to try and convince her out of it—meddling maids notwithstanding. For a whole year, she was actually doing really well. In fact, she dare thought that she might have actually numbed herself to anything running deeper than pure platonic companionship and permanently ruined herself for anyone that might have fallen in love with her later on in life.

It was probably the stupidest thing she could have ever done.

Though, she must not have done a good job with it, since the supposed block she had put up on her secretly romanticized heart had dramatically committed suicide and allowed a suffocating influx of a year's worth of swooning.

And, wow, did she _swoon._

All she dreamed about was that entire evening of reading, talking, walking together through the town, holding on to one another, and finally bidding each other good bye in front of the gates leading to her house. Of course her imagination turned that simple kiss on the cheek that she had offered Aang into a very enthusiastic and very much blush-inducing kiss that a part of her brain must have seriously wished she had performed instead of scurrying away with nothing more than a "Thanks for the books." It was all filled with swollen lips, grabbing hands, talented tongues, clouded eyes, and various proclamations of the three words that she never thought she would hear herself say.

Needless to say that when Toph woke up the next morning, it was obvious that she needed to stop kidding herself and start piecing things together. Once you started fantasizing about kissing the ever-living daylights out of someone who was supposed to remain your friend, everything else had to sit on the sidelines and kindly wait for the arrival of an epiphany.

So Toph tried to come to an epiphany. She came to some startling realizations.

It didn't help that while she was reviewing how she had _willingly_ followed his note, _willingly_ hung out with him in town, _willingly_ spent the night at his house, and practically jumped at the opportunity to hang onto him and kiss him goodnight, she was jumping up and down over the fact that he had given her an entire pile of her favorite poet's work because he had decided to zero in on one small part of their conversations.

She had given him a _nickname!_ She only ever did that with people she was close with and people that she actually liked. She didn't even mean for the name Twinkle Toes to slip out of her mouth, but it did and she had to cover it up with a quick explanation. But then he went and smiled about it, and oh he looked absolutely charming when he smiled like that. His teeth were white and brightened up his face. His cheeks flushed from the cold and warmed up his features. His eyes—those grey, silvery eyes—flickered to her bashfully and his brown, downy hair fell into his eyes for a moment, making him look absolutely adorable and handsome and gorgeous.

The way he spoke, too. So interesting and so sweet and so understanding of her situation even though looking at him he should have had nothing but contempt for her and her money. He confided in her, and that openness allowed her to confide in him and reveal things that she hadn't told anyone before in ages. Something that filled her with dread to admit, she was easily able to relay to him and the way he encouraged her to believe in her own wishes and desires was nothing short of refreshing.

It was around this time that Toph decided to conclude that she maybe had a teensy little crush on Aang. Oh, and that she wouldn't mind kissing him again. Properly this time.

Somehow, all of those revelations cleared up the crushing feeling in her chest and made it easier to breathe and look around at what was around her. Denial was a hard thing to keep up with and an even harder thing to make yourself honestly believe in. But once it was gone, things were easy and lovely again. It was the strangest feeling, but she supposed it wasn't necessarily a bad thing. No broken bones yet.

Besides, it was very easy for her to think back to the boy with fondness as she started to devour all of the poetry books Aang had given her to read. She only hoped that he could let her keep borrowing these so that she could reread them over and over again. It was amazing that she had missed out on all this. Perhaps, all this time, she should have been going to Aang for her literature fix. That had to be a sign or a hint or something.

Her parents were bustling about downstairs, and she had a horrible feeling that something was supposed to happen tonight. She vaguely heard the voices of a maid walking by and asking someone where the gold rimmed china was kept. Toph shook her head and turned another page. No doubt they were having company over again for dinner. That meant that she couldn't sneak out today. Maybe tonight? It depended on how dinner went. She'd wait and see.

All she knew was that she wasn't in the mood for whatever it sounded like her parents were preparing for downstairs. Toph was exhausted from yesterday—not that she really minded, she blushed—and was in no condition to primp up and be wrapped tightly in one of those dresses her mother kept asking Ty Lee to make for her. Not to mention, the makeup would feel absolutely atrocious on her skin and she absolutely despised wearing it. She would rather lounge on her duvet with Aang's presents, thankyouverymuch.

It took a total of thirty seconds after this thought for her mother to knock sharply on her door and let herself into Toph's room without even asking if the girl was decent or whether or not she could come in. Not that it was at all surprising. Meddling mothers were so presumptuous.

"Toph, darling, are you in here?" her mother called out melodiously.

Toph rolled her eyes. _Well, where else would I be?_ she thought with a sneer. No doubt the woman had already prowled through the entire house to make sure everything was in order, and Toph wasn't stupid enough to run away during a freak out like this no matter how much she desperately wanted to.

"On the bed, mother," Toph called out, still refusing to take her eyes away from the book in her lap. Maybe if she closed her eyes and wished hard enough, her mother would be frightened off and go away to leave her daughter in peace.

Wishful thinking, unfortunately, because her mother appeared from around the corner with an extremely potent smell of perfume following her to the edge of Toph's bed. Toph wrinkled her nose at the smell and winced. Her mother only wore perfume when someone really important came over and she had some serious impressing to do. Would you look at that? The day was actually getting worse.

Her mother's makeup looked immaculate, as always, but it was very clearly dominating much of her features. It must have taken at least an hour to put on, not to mention the amount of time it must have taken to get into that dreadfully tight dress of hers. Toph couldn't stomach the idea of having to look like that herself. Some days, she wished she could open up the Earth and just let herself fall in and hide from everything that was pestering her.

The older woman's eyes strayed to her daughter's hair and she immediately sighed in frustration. "Oh, goodness, did you even brush your hair this morning?" her mother admonished, running her fingers through the knots in the back of Toph's head. "Honestly, it looks like a rat's nest."

Toph slapped her mother's hand away when her fingers snagged onto a particularly nasty knot. "It's fine mom, I'll comb it out later." She turned her head back to her lap and reread the same paragraph for the third time, hoping that her mother would catch a hint and leave her be.

Her mother pursed her lips and pulled her hand away. "You don't have time to comb it out later, Toph. You do realize the time, don't you?"

Toph shrugged a shoulder and tapped the corner of her book with a finger. "Haven't really bothered to notice. Sorry," she mumbled.

Toph heard a low growl before she felt the book be snatched from her hands and snapped shut. Her mother turned around and tucked the book into a drawer next to her bed and turned back to the girl with severity. Toph returned the gesture with equal potency.

"I was reading that," Toph glared, hoping that the rough treatment of the book didn't damage them. She imagined Aang would want them back in the same condition he lent them out in.

Her mother didn't seem amused by the sentiment. Her voice lowered. "This is no time for you to be fooling around. You'll look at me when I talk to you, is that understood?"

Toph pursed her lips and kept her hands down in her lap. She didn't want to further induce the stress that was already rolling off of the older woman's shoulders in waves and suffocating the room. The woman didn't look it, but she could be downright frightening sometimes, especially when Toph didn't do as she was told. "Perfectly, mother," she replied icily. "What is it that you needed?"

Her mother rummaged around Toph's night table until she found the calling bell that Toph purposefully left overturned and unused. It caused her mother a huge amount of grief and annoyance whenever her daughter either insisted on completing tasks on her own, or would go out of her way to find someone if she needed help. No matter how many times her mother insisted that she didn't need to put herself out of the way like that, Toph kept doing it because she knew her mother hated it.

At the sound of the bell, a young girl rushed into the room about ten seconds later and was forced to commit to memory a confusing list of instructions that consisted of what kind of tea the Lady Bei Fong and her daughter would be requesting this morning, specific steeping instructions, and what sort of late morning snacks she wanted brought along with the tray. Toph winced as she saw the girl begin to mutter to herself as she left in hopes of remembering everything, but was quickly brought back to the situation at hand when her mother started digging around in her pockets.

"You do remember the Huang family, don't you? They came for a visit a couple of years ago. They had that lovely son who was about your age…oh what was his name…"

Immediately knowing where this was going, Toph pulled her knees up and buried her face in them. "Deshi. What about him?"

Her mother smiled fondly. "Ah, a lovely boy. Handsome, isn't he?"

Not particularly, Toph thought. She remembered when his family came over for the holidays back when she was around fifteen. The wife was a gossiper like her own mother, and she remembered the two of them getting along great. Lord Huang was a very severe and goal oriented man with eyes that were too sharp and features that were too pointed. He and her father had spoken about the Bei Fongs finally being the leaders in the marble trading business. Their family made a lot of money funding excavations in marble mines and selling the raw material to interested parties around the country. Lord Huang was very impressed that Lord Bei Fong had gained so much good fortune in such a short amount of time. Their son was a quiet, polite boy who seemed just as thrilled to be there as Toph was. Not much to look at, if you asked her, but she supposed he wasn't as bad as his parents.

"I guess," Toph lied gently. "What's your point? What is this all about?"

Her mother finally found what she was looking for: a letter with a broken wax seal on it with a very elaborate family crest embossed on the surface. She smoothed out the wrinkles on her lap. "Well," her mother began, "I just thought that it would be a good idea to invite them over for lunch this afternoon, wouldn't you agree? Oh we haven't seen them in ages, and your father has a lot to discuss with Lord Huang. I want you to look your best when they arrive."

Toph turned her head and hiked her duvet up so that it covered her knees. She was subtly trying to curl back into bed if only to convince her mother that she'd rather stay in it all day then spend lunch downstairs with people she didn't like. "Send them my apologies, but I can't join them for lunch."

Her mother raised her brows and asked a little too pleasantly, "And why is that?"

Toph patted her pillow fondly and collapsed into it with a sarcastic smile. "My bed would miss me. I wouldn't want to disappoint it, not after all we've been through."

Her mother's nostrils flared slightly as she visibly tried to control the decibels in her voice. "Now is not the time for your sarcasm, darling."

"But I'm not being sarcastic," Toph replied innocently. "I'd much rather curl myself up in bed all day for the next week then have to doll up and go entertain a family filled with pompous, lying, money hungry—"

"Oh, you cut that nonsense out at once!" her mother snapped at her. "I don't want to hear anymore theories about stolen money or manipulation. It is far too early, and there is too much I still have to do."

Toph flung her sheets off with excessive force and stomped across the room to the vanity that stood in the corner. "Mother, do not treat me like an idiot, because despite what you might think, I know _exactly_ what is going on."

"Oh do you?" her mother spat. "And need I remind you that, as my daughter, you are to do as you are told? If I said to drop the subject, you drop it."

Toph flung open one of the bottom drawers to her vanity and started rifling through the extra scrolls of parchment and ink that she kept there. Digging round towards the bottom, her hands brushed across a bundle of envelopes that she immediately thrust out of the drawer before kicking it shut out of her frustration. She turned around and held them up over her head.

"Would that letter in your hands be anything similar to these?" Toph accused her. Her mother's eyes widened almost imperceptibly and her features immediately went rigid again, already sensing the direction her daughter was turning the conversation.

Toph undid the tie that held together all the envelopes with a snap and flung them all across her bed, a few hitting her mother's arm as they fell. "We get letters every month from people that want to 'help' us and get us back on our feet. Nothing ever happens. Now we have to start this idiotic charade all over again? No. I'm not going."

Her mother paused and pursed her lips in thought, debating her response. "Look, if this is about your reluctance towards marriage, I was never suggesting that we—"

Toph turned her head away in disgust. "It is not about the damn issues with marriage, Mom!" Toph practically shouted. "It's the whole idea of covering Dad's backside because he was being an idiot." She ran a quick hand through her hair, wincing when she snagged on more knots. She breathed out harshly, already feeling her anger and frustration rising even further. "I'm not doing it again."

Her mother actually looked offended at the statement and Toph couldn't help but laugh humorlessly at the expression that overtook her face. "If you think I'm just going to sit here and let you dictate to me what you think is best for this family—" her mother began.

"I'm dictating what I want," Toph demanded staunchly. Suddenly, the words Aang had recited to her last night barreled into the forefront of her mind and she was emboldened by his advice that she didn't think she really appreciated until now. "I know what my role is here, but I am not going to let you inhibit me because it's convenient for you. I know why you make me stay here."

"I make you stay here because it's good for you," her mother countered. "It's safe, it's respectable, and it's where you belong. This has absolutely nothing to do with the conversation we are having."

"It has _everything_ to do with it, because it all comes down to the same thing," Toph insisted. "It's you coming up with these ridiculous plans to help maintain your stupid little illusion of normality even though it's running away from you as we speak. You're so closed minded that the thought of anything around here changing scares you, and you'll do anything to keep it the way it is."

Her mother stood from her seat on the bed and strode over to her daughter. She grabbed Toph's arm roughly and the girl could feel the woman's fingerprints digging into her bare arm. She tried to pull her mother's hand loose, but she was already being pushed down into the seat of the vanity and had her head forcibly turned toward the mirror. Toph could see her mother's wrinkled forehead and deep frown through the reflection. The woman took up a thick comb and started clawing through Toph's hair.

"Do you realize how foolish and uncultured you sound?" her mother scolded. "My friends come over for tea in the afternoons and cannot believe the stories I tell them." She shook her head in disbelief. "Wanting to go out into the city, the nerve of you. It's embarrassing to be told by other people how completely…_abnormal _you're acting." She spit out the word like it was the very symbol of disgrace and disappointment her mother could entertain. "You're not a street crawler. You are a dignified young lady and you'll act like it."

Toph made eye contact with her mother through the mirror. "What exactly is so abnormal about wanting to explore the city I'm growing up with? It isn't as if we're the only people who exist!" Images of all of those poor people curling up in the cold for the night and those abandoned and decrepit buildings rotting away in the degenerate side of the city were immediately brought to mind.

"And I'm sure next you'll be asking me if you can start inviting old men from the slums to our home next, is that it?"

Toph snapped her mouth closed and chose not to respond to that. Admitting that that statement was sort of in a way half true would lead to nothing short of an unmitigated disaster.

"I just don't understand you," her mother replied helplessly. "What on Earth possesses you to fight us tooth and nail when we just want what's best for you…"

"You don't know what's best for me because you don't _ask_ me what I want!" Toph raised her voice. "If you really think that what I want is to stay cooped up in my room all day being dressed up like a little tease just to—"

"There you go again!" Toph winced when her mother pulled the comb through roughly and snagged out a little bit of Toph's hair from the force of it. "Stop turning this into a case of victimizing you or making you do something unsavory or inappropriate. I'm not that kind of mother. Don't start insulting me."

"It's not an insult directed at you, but at your methods," the girl clarified. "Don't you realize that none of this works?" Toph asked desperately, gesturing back towards the letters that she had unceremoniously flung across her sheets. "We're making fools out of ourselves. All of these families are laughing at us because we're this desperate, and we're not getting anywhere."

Her mother grabbed her shoulders and turned her to the side so that they were face to face. "Stop getting yourself involved in matters you know nothing about," she said dangerously. "Your father and I know exactly what we're doing."

"Mmhm," Toph said as her lips curled into a cruel smirk. "And that's why all of our money keeps disappearing."

The silence was so potent, that Toph could actually hear the ringing in her ears that came in the dead of night when her room was completely devoid of movement and sound. It was harshly interrupted by a tentative knock on the door and a quiet announcement that their tea was ready. The girl sounded terrified and absolutely unwilling to enter the room lest she exacerbate the rift that the mother and daughter had gotten themselves into. Toph hoped she hadn't heard anything.

"Come in," Lady Bei Fong called out. Toph grit her teeth together. It was her room. She was the one that was supposed to be giving orders for people to come in or not. The maid scuttled quickly inside and was instructed to leave the tea on the table by Toph's window. During the entire process of the tea being set up, Toph relaxed her shoulders and started gulping in more breaths. She was in such a good mood this morning. Her mother coming upstairs with yet another ridiculous request had completely decimated whatever comforting and uplifting revelations she had come to this morning.

After they were left alone and the door shut firmly behind the maid, her mother sighed and stood demurely with as much dignity she could collect after being verbally throttled by her own daughter. "Are you going to sit there, or are you going to have your tea now?"

Toph hated the fact that her sharp tongue and sarcasm was inherited from her mother. When the two of them fought, it was all icy glares and cruel witticisms that just proceeded to annoy them both into a state of absolute unrest in which neither of them could effectively calm down for another couple of hours. Toph was positive that the rest of the day was going to turn out just lovely.

As her mother poured out two cups of tea, Toph turned her chair away from her mother out of spite and pulled her teacup near her. Toph held the saucer over her lap and refused to use the table lest she was forced to look directly at the woman that was blowing her fuse short this morning.

The older woman sighed irritably and took a long sip. "I understand why you're upset."

Toph scoffed into her drink and nodded her head in mock agreement. "You do, huh? Why don't you enlighten me?"

"This is about the beginning of last year, isn't it?" her mother asked. "The boy you were with…"

Toph froze with her lips still on the rim of her cup and her body immediately tensed up so much that it was probably visible from across the room. Her mother wouldn't bring that up now. Surely she wasn't completely cold hearted.

The conversation plowed on ahead despite Toph's fervent inward pleas for the topic to just be completely forgotten. "I remember him," her mother nodded solemnly. "A very driven young man. I think his name was—"

"Don't!" Toph choked out, her voice catching more than she would have liked. She blinked her eyes shut and hoped that her mother hadn't caught onto it. "Just…don't," she trailed of lamely.

Leave it to her mother to hit on a sore spot. She hadn't thought about that boy in months, and she was happy to let his memory simmer out and be replaced with a newer, fresher memory that she was sure was already outdoing anything she had ever felt before—at least she thought so. But the moment her mother touched on the subject, images of his face smiling at her from the door of her bedroom, his kisses on her palm in the gardens, his promises that he made her, the words that he spewed that she ate up like an absolute, love struck little girl…

Then again, that's exactly what she was at the time: irrevocably infatuated. For someone who had never really had many friends or interactions with people her age, having the opportunity to meet a person like him was too much to pass up. There wasn't much thinking involved. The moment he showed an interest and started feeding her the lines she had read and dreamed about, she ran away with them and kept them in her pocket to pull out and revisit when she was alone in her room, right before she would go to sleep, and whenever he was away for longer than a few hours.

Now, it was absolutely embarrassing, and a glaring reminder of why she had tried to deprive herself of warming up to another person for so long.

Her mother almost seemed sympathetic. "That was…a minor set back. That boy's father was not the kind of influence we needed in our life, I'll admit that," her mother admonished. "But…your father…all of us. We need this to work out. I have a strong feeling that this will work out to our advantage this time around."

Toph drew her eyes up to the ceiling and downed the rest of her tea in a single gulp. "I'm not going," she repeated.

Her mother sighed and rubbed at her hands. "I'm not asking you, I'm telling you. Believe it or not, I'm trying to look out for your best interests. Our standard of living is at stake here and I will not have you ruin that for us because of a broken heart and a petty romance."

Toph visibly winced at the words, trying not to let the memories bother her. They were behind her, and she really didn't appreciate her mother bringing it up after so long. The only reason she got hurt back then was because she couldn't see the warning signs she was able to see now. She wasn't stupid, just inexperienced. Toph knew better now.

"There are other ways," Toph argued back weakly. "Why do things have to be so underhanded?"

Her mother chuckled. "It's the world we live in, sweetheart. That's our job as the women in this family: to keep it alive for the future. Your duty is to your family first, and right now your father and I need you to go downstairs to this family and make a serious impression. There will be no leaving this house on your own, there will be no traveling like a little vagabond, and there will certainly be no simpering over unrequited intentions. Have I made myself clear?"

Toph didn't respond to her and stared resolutely down at her lap—tea and snacks forgotten—until her mother reached across the table and pulled Toph's chin to face her, her nails accidently digging into the skin by her jaw. "I said, have I made myself clear?"

Toph bit her lip to keep herself from sneering. "Absolutely, mother."

Her chin was released and Lady Bei Fong stood from her chair and started to smooth out the bunched fabric from her dress. She looked disapprovingly at the scattered envelopes all over the bed and the floor. "Clean that up. I want you bathed within the hour, and I'll send someone upstairs to help you get dressed."

Toph felt herself nod and couldn't bother to start coming up with more retorts to defend herself. She heard the sounds of her door opening and desperately waited for the resounding shut to signal that she could be free to react as she wanted without her mother being able to see. However the older woman turned back to her daughter one last time. "Stop it with your garbage, Toph. I don't want to hear you mention any of this again."

The door was slammed shut and Toph could only wait around ten seconds before she grabbed her mother's teacup and flung it at the door as hard as she could, breathing harshly when the china cracked into pieces as it collided with the door. Her anger wasn't dissipating, so she did it again, this time with one of the saucers.

She felt the sensation of crying, but knew that everything that was building up in her chest and behind her eyes was just years and years of frustration being piled up on top of her again. This was usually the time when Toph ran away to Katara's house, ranted at her for a few hours, and returned back to her house after calming down enough to face her mother again. For some reason, this felt so much worse than that. This wasn't going away and Toph had never been so upset as to start breaking things in her room because her mother had said something she didn't like.

But it was more than that wasn't it? Her mother was very traditional and believed her duties to be simple and irrevocable. It all came down to one simple tenet: serve your family no matter what. Her mother seemed to think that this was the answer to everything. As long as those duties were upheld, everything would work out and her family would be able to keep living along happily. It was such an idealistic look at the world, and Toph liked to think that she knew better than that.

It was becoming very obvious that her mother was going to fight her tooth and nail on everything Toph wanted to do.

Toph didn't want any part of that.

She didn't pick up the envelopes. She didn't clean up the broken china. She didn't touch the bed. She didn't head towards the bathroom. She pulled out a large knapsack from her closet and started filling it with as many clothes as she could fit inside. The guards made similar rounds around the grounds everyday and didn't deviate from them for anything. If she paid enough attention and took her time, she'd be able to just barely slip past them. Forget the dinner. Forget the Huang family. She meant what she said to her mother. She would not be going.

**OOO**

"Katara, for the last time, I don't _see_ anything," Sokka replied tiredly.

Katara pushed him closer to the wall. "I'm not crazy! There was a rat and it went through that little hole."

Sokka muttered under his breath and got down on his knees. He placed his cheek against the floor and stared into the small gap in between the floor and the wall. "There is no way a rat was able to fit through here. It's teeny!"

"I saw it Sokka!" Katara whined. "Hurry up and go get it."

The man groaned and struggled back up to his feet, trying to ignore the ache in his lower back. "Woman, I didn't take a week off to stoop down on the floor and look for imaginary mice," he complained with a whine.

Katara bit her lip and looked down at the floor. "…it was a rat, Sokka."

Her brother put a hand on his lower back and slouched back to the kitchen. "Rat, mouse, cat, dog, horse, there's nothing down there. Now can you please look at my back?"

The younger girl whined and followed her brother into the kitchen. "You say that now. But tonight, it'll come back out."

"Then you look for it yourself." Sokke spun the chair around and straddled the back of it. "The place is spotless. We have no rats. We never did."

Katara climbed up on the counter and opened a cabinet that was hung close to the ceiling. She reached her arm towards the back and started knocking around vials, looking for the one she needed. "You're the strong man in the house, Mr. Fix It. You're supposed to deal with these things."

"Not when I'm injured. Hurry up, will you, it's starting to cramp up again," Sokka hissed as he adjusted his position on the chair.

Katara uncorked a bottle of oil and hopped off the counter. "I'm coming, I'm coming."

Apparently, Sokka had thrown out his back lifting some boxes at work yesterday and was forced to take some leave for the next few days while he rested up and dealt with the pain. Usually, Sokka always slept at the workshop if there was a lot of work piling up on him, which was often the case. Katara personally thought that her brother spent too much time crouched over a table and sleeping in uncomfortable positions all day long. But it was a good thing to have him around the house more often. He was always the one who killed the spiders for her.

"You know for someone so bossy and domineering, you sure act like a little kid when it comes to vermin," Sokka chuckled.

The younger girl tipped the bottle in her palm and started spreading the oil in her hands. "I don't like them! They're disgusting and they get into the food." She hiked up Sokka's shirt with the backs of her hands and started rubbing the oil into Sokka's lower back.

"Is that supposed to help?" He turned his head and tried to look down over his shoulder before Katara knocked the back of his head with her wrist and forced him to turn around.

"Massage helps," Katara promised him, already kneading the sore muscles. "Trust me."

"Whatever you say, you little know it all."

He jumped up from his seat and winced when Katara pushed her thumb into a particularly nasty knot in his back for the comment. "Damn, watch it!" he cried out.

"Then stop saying dumb things," she warned him.

Sokka huffed and rested his chin on the back of the chair and bit his lip when Katara kneaded through a particularly brutal knot. She muttered a soft apology and Sokka turned his head towards her. "So besides chasing invisible rats and letting you experiment on me, are you alright?" he asked seriously. "You don't need anything, do you? Nothing worrying you?"

She shrugged her shoulders lightly and tilted her head, staring intently at the tightness in her brother's back. "Nothing really. We're alright on money, not that I'm much of a help with that."

"Cut it out," Sokka said. "It's not like I'm secretly expecting you to start going out there and working. I know you love what you do, and I'm not gonna knock you for it."

"No I know," Katara responded quickly. "But…I just feel bad. You're overworking yourself and getting hurt for it."

Sokka didn't respond to that, but then remembered, "What about that clinic you were talking about opening up? You could make some serious money, and you'd be good at it."

"I need supplies Sokka," Katara bemoaned. "Real, proper ones. We can't afford it right now. Besides, I'm so busy worrying about everyone around me that I don't think I can handle a clinic at the moment."

Sokka shifted in his chair and tried to stretch out the tender spots that Katara had just worked out. She went to the sink and washed her hands off the oil while Sokka reached for a rag on the kitchen table. "Is Aang okay?"

Katara nodded thoughtfully. "I think so. I saw him and Jet today when I went out shopping. Jet seemed normal, following some girl around the market. Aang seemed really perked up over something, though." Giddy and smiling up to his ears was more like it, now that she thought about it. She wasn't really keeping extensive tabs on the boy, but she wished she had been if it meant she could find out what had happened in the time since she's seen him.

Sokka reached around and wiped off the excess oil from his back. "Aang's always happy," he deadpanned.

"No this time it was overwhelmingly so," Katara explained, pulling out a chair across from Sokka and sitting down. "I can't explain it. You had to see it."

Sokka raised both his brows and sighed. "Okay. Whatever you say." He paused for a moment. "Hey, what about Toph? Has she been coming around lately?"

Katara bit her lip and hummed in thought. "…you know now that you mention it, no she hasn't. She's usually here at least three times a week like clockwork. Surely she's gotten into a fight with her mother by now, don't you think?"

"She's a spitfire, that one," Sokka laughed. "That mansion of hers probably isn't there anymore."

"I'm serious," Katara said forlornly as she rested her chin in her arms. "Something's wrong. She always visits. I mean what if—?"

Her remark was cut off by a loud series of knocks coming from the front door, and Katara turned abruptly towards the sound. Usually if it was someone needing medical attention, they just shouted it out through the windows until she heard them and came rushing out. Not the most considerate method of alerting that they needed help, but it worked when Katara needed to react in a hurry. It was strange that someone would be knocking though.

Katara appraised Sokka for a moment, but he simply shrugged and waved towards the door. Katara sprung up from her chair, wincing as it squeaked against the old wood, and padded barefoot through the fire lit living room and towards the front door. She wrapped her shawl closely around her body in preparation for the cold that would no doubt blow in when she opened the door, undid the latches, and yanked on the handle.

In a flurry of fabric and expensive perfume, a small petite body barreled through the doorway with enough force to make Katara stumble backwards for a moment before righting herself against the surface of the door. She barely had enough time to react to the rude intrusion before the visitor spoke up from the living room.

"It is _freezing_ out there today. Oh, thank goodness! You have a fire going. I thought my feet were going to fall off."

Katara closed the door open with a shove when she heard Sokka calling out from the kitchen. "Is that Toph?"

"Oh, hey Snoozles!" Katara heard Toph greet over in the kitchen. "Throw your back out again?"

Sokka chuckled and pulled out a chair for Toph just as Katara walked back into the kitchen. "Among other things, kiddo. So what's up? Haven't seen you in a while."

Katara took the last chair at the kitchen table and immediately noticed the bulging pack that the girl just dumped onto the kitchen floor. Toph usually never brought anything with her when she visited and immediately started to wonder if something was wrong. However, Toph was all smiles and pleasant company and she lifted her feet off from the floor and tucked them underneath her on her chair.

"Ugh, I haven't sat like this in ages," Toph sighed in relief. "Yeah, sorry about that. Um…a lot's been going on."

Katara immediately thought of Aang and his chipper attitude and silently attested to that. Katara leaned her chin on the edge of the table and asked, "This is an odd hour for you. Don't you usually have dinner right about now?"

Toph shrugged. "I figured I'd have dinner with you guys." Toph immediately started digging into her pockets. "I know I don't usually do this, but I can totally spot you for money if you're worried about that—"

Sokka reached out and stilled her hands. "Woah, there. Slow down. No need to pay us, we've got you covered. It's just one dinner, we can handle it."

"Oh no, it's not just dinner I'm doing this for," Toph explained as she pulled out a tiny satchel of coins. She tipped the contents out of the bag and poured out at least a couple dozen shimmering gold pieces onto the kitchen table. "Take it. I insist."

The siblings' mouths immediately dropped, and Sokka had to actually rub his eyes and lean his head in closer just to appreciate how much money Toph just dumped onto their table. Katara hadn't seen that much money in her life. She knew that Toph was rich, but she never expected to see so much evidence of it up close.

"…why are you…?" Katara trailed off.

"Rent," Toph commented as she looked back towards the living room. "I figured if I was going to ask you if I could sleep on your couch, I might as well pay you both for the trouble, right? It's only fair."

"Rent?" Katara and Sokka echoed.

Toph smiled proudly at the two shocked siblings. "Yup. I ran away."


End file.
